cagliata / cheese curds

May 22, 2014 | Simona

a quick peek under the cloth

When I make cheese, my kitchen acquires a luminous quality. The pearly white of milk and curds reminds me of Galadriel, the royal Elf, as protrayed by Cate Blanchett in The Lord of the Rings movies.

I took the photo while making Crescenza, a soft cheese I have been using most recently

This week, I have the honor of hosting Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar. Send your contribution at simosite AT mac DOT com, namely

your name
your blog's name
the image(s) (max 500 px wide, either orientation, max 150 kb file size)

You have until Wednesday, May 28 at 9 am Pacific time to do so. If you are unfamiliar with the event or need a reminder of the rules, you will find the details in this post (and in Italian here). Feel free to use the logo below. If you have a photo, but no blog, send it to me and I will include it in the roundup, which will be published on Wednesday, May 28.

Since messages can get lost, please, contact me again if you don't get an answer to your email or a comment on your blog within a couple of days of emailing me.

This is my contribution to edition #131 of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by me, Simona of briciole.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white (Lightroom preset Split Tone 1).

The gallery of images contributed to the event.

Q come Quarkkeulchen / Q like Quarkkeulchen

December 9, 2013 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

highway to the sky

One morning in early March, a good number of years ago, I boarded a train at Milan's Stazione Centrale. After crossing the border, the train glided across Switzerland, breaking the silence of meadows and woods sleeping peacefully under a thick blanket of snow.

After the sun set, it became more difficult to follow the progress of my journey and I settled with my book. Around 10 pm, the train arrived at Cologne Central Station (Köln Hauptbahnhof) and I got off. The brisk air carried the memory of recent rain.

I crossed the almost deserted main hall with my trusted companion: my beloved blue backpack. I knew what I would do once outside: look for a taxi and practice my best German to provide the driver with my destination address.

I was not prepared for what happened when I stepped out onto the front sidewalk: The majestic Cathedral rose in front of me against the darkness of a starless night, serious in its dark gray attire, serene in its elegant Gothic style, gracious with its pointed arches and lofty spires, reassuring with the wisdom of its old age.

I a had no idedid not know that the cathedral was so close to the train station and the shock of surprise was the sweetest welcome I could have received.

I stood there for a time that stretched outside human time to look at one of the most beautiful buildings ever built, an example of human ingenuity, sense of place and space, faith and longing for the sky.

The precise moment when my whole body and mind stopped mid-breath is the lasting impression of my first visit to Germany. Everything else I can tell you about the country is a combination of experiences and knowledge: that moment was pure and intense emotion.

I did not have a camera back then, so I don't have a physical image of what my eyes saw. This photo is an excellent approximation. When I was finally able to awaken from the daze in which I was immersed, I realized that I was looking at one of the sides of the cathedral and that the facade (facciata, see top photo) was to the right (this aereal view shows the relative position of the two buildings).

The Three Kings' window (1300)

A few days later, I entered the Cathedral. Being inside a Gothic church was not a new experience for me. Beside the Gothic churches of my native Umbria, I knew well Milan Cathedral (duomo di Milano), being at the time a resident of that city. But the pull upward that I felt once I entered the Cologne Cathedral was much stronger than any I had experienced before. I immediately started looking up and kept my eyes there while walking around.

This would have worked reasonably well had I been the only visitor of the sacred space. But as there were a number of other people and as all of them were walking around and looking up, bumping against each other was unavoidable. Nobody got upset, though, as we all realized that the occasional rough stop was an acceptable price to pay for the amazing feast the eyes were relishing while scanning the upper reaches of the cathedral.

The two images above are from postcards I brought back from my trip. Beside images of the Cathedral, I have some from my visit of the Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum). Below is one of them.

ointment vessel (3rd century CE)

I spent three weeks in Cologne studying German. I owe to the school some nice memories I have from my stay, like a cruise on the Rhine on a boat of the water police (Wasserschutzpolizei). My visit to Cologne occurred before the reunification, so the capital was still Bonn, which I visited as homage to Beethoven.

I went back to Germany a few years later, during a summer vacation with three friends: we drove from Italy to Norway and back so we had a chance to see quite a bit of Germany. We visited Ulm (where there is another fabulous Gothic church, the Minster, and where Albert Einstein was born), Göttingen, Heidelberg, Lübeck and Baden-Baden.

My most recent visit to Germany was to Augsburg. But when I fly to Italy, I usually change plane in Frankfurt or Munich (there is no non-stop flight between San Francisco and an Italian airport), which allows me to stock up on my favorite chocolate-covered marzipan.

Our virtual tour of the European Community is in Germany for three weeks starting today and I am the host. If you would like to join us for this stop of the journey, all you have to do is publish a recipe chosen from German traditional dishes. Do you need a bit of help to get your imagination started? On this wikipedia page there is a useful list.

In your post, please reference the event, Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC) and to the hosting blog by linking to this announcement.

There is one dish that is off-limits: Sächsische Quarkkeulchen (or Quarkkäulchen), the dish I am presenting in this post. (Please, refer to this post for details of why this is so.)

To submit your contribution (and you can submit more than one), please use the Inlinkz form at the end of this post. Archives posts are accepted, but please update them with the information of the event.

Important: the form asks you for the URL of the post, the name (title) of the post and your email. The latter won't be published, but it's there for me to contact you, if necessary. Should you have any problems with the form, please send an email to simosite AT mac DOT com. You can also leave me the URL of your contribution in a comment to this post.

The deadline is Sunday, December 29 at midnight PST.

Feel free to contact me should you have any questions regarding the event and its rules.

And now, let me tell you about Quarkkeulchen

a breakfast treat

In recent posts (like this one), I have mentioned making Quark cheese at home. The immediate reason for that cheese-making adventure was to make Quarkkeulchen.

Quark is a fresh cheese common in Germany, which is where I ate it first and last — before tasting my own. Making Quark at home is quite easy: take milk, add culture (see the recipe on this page, which contains a detailed explanation and lists various options for the culture) and let it do its work, then cut the curd, drain and you are done.

just drained

Quarkkeulchen are Saxon pancakes made with potatoes (patate) and Quark. They require a bit of advanced preparation but are worth the effort. I honestly don't think I'll be able to go back to regular pancakes after tasting Quarkkeulchen.

In preparation for my hosting duty, I read a number of recipes for Quarkkeulchen and made them many times, tweeking a detail or two every time, for the joy of my breakfast-loving husband. Among the various sources of inspiration, I want to recognize in particular the recipe by Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey?. Her post is informative and her photos are gorgeous.

a special breakfast

My version uses the same amount of potatoes and Quark and relies on plump California raisins (uvetta) for sweetness. I serve Quarkkeulchen with my applesauce, which, based on my reading, is a traditional accompaniment.

Ingredients:

1 large egg, possibly from pastured poultry
75 g boiled and riced potatoes (like Yukon Gold or Purple Majesty)
1 tablespoon / 12 g white sugar
75 g Quark cheese, possibly homemade (see Note below)
25 g whole-wheat pastry flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon zest of organic orange or lemon
50 g raisins
A pinch of salt
Olive oil
Roasted applesauce

Note: if the Quark you use is very moist, drain it a bit by placing it on a cloth-lined strainer placed over a bowl (to catch the whey). Weigh it after draining. If later on, before you add the beaten egg white, your batter is quite stiff, add back as much of the drained whey as needed to soften it.

Break the egg and separate yolk and white.

Boil at least 100 g potatoes until tender. For efficiency's sake, I usually boil more and use what I don't need for this recipe to make mashed potatoes. As soon as you can handle, peel and run through a ricer or mash finely. Weigh the amount needed. Place in a bowl and let cool.

Add egg yolk, sugar, Quark, flour and orange zest to the potatoes and stir well. Add the raisins and stir in.

Whisk egg white with the pinch of salt until firm. Gently fold the egg white into the batter.

Let the batter rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Warm up a skillet and oil it well. Warm up the oven to 190 F / 88 C and place an oven-resistant plate in it.

Using a soup spoon, drop about 2 tablespoons of batter into the hot skillet and gently flatten with the back of the spoon to form a circle. Repeat to make four more Quarkkeulchen. Fry until they are golden (two minutes or so) then flip and repeat on the other side. Transfer to the warmed plate and keep in the oven.

Oil again the skillet if necessary. Use the rest of the batter to make another batch of five Quarkkeulchen and cook as described above.

Serve immediately with roasted applesauce.

Serves 2.

a simple, nourishing dish

The delicate flavor of Quarkkeulchen blends potato and Quark and is punctuated by the sweet burst of raisins. Each tender bite is quite satisfying. The roasted applesauce is a perfect accompaniment: its fruitiness goes well with the raisins and its natural sweetness does not overwhelm the delicate flavor of the Quarkkeulchen. An excellent breakfast fare.

With this post, I introduce the 17th installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. Q like Quarkkeulchen (Germany) is hosted by me, Simona of briciole.

My recipe for Quarkkeulchen and the list of recipes contributed to the event.

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

Q come Quarkkeulchen

or launch the Q come Quarkkeulchen 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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egg, cheese, pancake, breakfast, German cuisine

Q come Quarkkeulchen

superstrada verso il cielo

Una mattina di Marzo di un buon numero di anni fa salii su un treno alla Stazione Centrale di Milano. Dopo aver passato il confine, il treno attraversò la Svizzera, rompendo il silenzio di prati e boschi addormentati sotto una spessa coltre di neve.

Dopo il tramonto divenne difficile seguire il progresso del mio viaggio e mi accoccolai col libro che stavo leggendo. Intorno alle 22 il treno arrivò alla Stazione Centrale di Colonia (Hauptbahnhof) ed io scesi: ero arrivata. L'aria freddolina aveva tracce di pioggia recente.

Attraversai la hall quasi deserta con sulle spalle il mio fido zaino blu. Sapevo cosa avrei fatto una volta fuori: avrei cercato un taxi e, sfoderando il mio miglior tedesco, avrei dato al tassista l'indirizzo della mia destinazione.

Non ero preparata per quello che mi successe una volta uscita dalla porta a vetro: il maestoso duomo si ergeva davanti a me sullo sfondo di una notte senza stelle, serio nel suo abito grigio, sereno nel suo elegante stile gotico, grazioso con i suoi archi a sesto acuto e le torri svettanti, rassicurante con la saggezza della sua venerabile età.

Non sapevo che il duomo fosse così vicino alla stazione e lo shock della sorpresa fu il benvenuto più dolce che potessi ricevere.

Rimasi lì davanti per un tempo fuori dal tempo ad ammirare uno degli edifici più belli mai costruiti, un esempio della creatività umana, di senso dello spazio, fede e desiderio di volare.

Il momento preciso in cui il mio corpo e la mia mente si fermarono a metà di un respiro è il ricordo più duraturo del mio primo viaggio in Germania. Tutto quello che posso raccontarvi di questo paese è una combinazione di esperienze e conoscenze: quel momento fu emozione pura.

A quel tempo non possedevo una macchina fotografica, quindi non ho un'immagine fisica di quello che videro i miei occhi quella sera. Questa foto è un'approssimazione ottima. Quando finalmente mi scossi e tornai alla realtà mi resi conto che stavo ammirando uno dei fianchi del duomo e che la facciata (vedi foto iniziale) era a destra (questa veduta aerea mostra la posizione relativa dei due edifici).

finestra di re magi (1300)

Pochi giorni dopo visitai il duomo. Trovarmi all'interno di una chiesa gotica non era un'esperienza nuova: oltre alle chiese gotiche della mia nativa Umbria conoscevo bene il duomo di Milano, essendo al tempo residente di quella città. Ma l'impulso a guardare in alto che ho sentito dentro al duomo di Colonia fu molto più forte di quanto provato fino ad allora. Immediatamente rivolsi i miei occhi verso l'alto e li tenni lì mentre andavo in giro per la chiesa.

Il problema era che a camminare col naso verso l'alto non ero solo io ma anche tutti gli altri visitatori, quindi collisioni accidentali erano inevitabili. Ma nessuno ci rimaneva male: un occasionale arresto brusco era un prezzo accettabile da pagare per ammirare la bellezza elevata dell'interno del duomo.

Le due immagini in alto sono cartoline ricordo del mio viaggio. Oltre ad immagini del duomo, ho alcune cartoline di opere conservate nel Museo romano-germanico (Römisch-Germanisches Museum), come questa:

ointment vessel (3rd century CE)

Trascorsi tre settimane di a Colonia a studiare tedesco. Ho dei ricordi simpatici dei giri fatti con la scuola, come la crociera sul Reno a bordo di una barca della polizia fluviale (Wasserschutzpolizei). La mia visita avvenne prima della riunificazione, quindi la capitale era ancora Bonn, che visitai come omaggio a Beethoven.

Tornai in Germania alcuni anni dopo, durante una vacanza estiva con tre amici. Andammo in auto dall'Italia alla Norvegia e ritorno, quindi avemmo modo di vedere un bel po' di Germania. Visitammo Ulm (dove si trova un'altra splendida chiesa gotica, il Minster, e dove nacque Albert Einstein), Göttingen, Heidelberg, Lubecca e Baden-Baden.

La mia visita più recente è stata ad Augsburg. Ma quando vengo in Italia di solito cambio volo a Francoforte o Monaco (non ci sono voli diretti tra San Francisco e un aereoporto italiano), il che mi consente di fare rifornimento dei miei cioccolatini di marzapane preferiti.

Il nostro viaggio virtuale attraverso i paesi della Comunita Europea si ferma in Germania per tre settimane a cominciare da oggi e io ospito questa tappa. Se volete partecipare, pubblicate una ricetta tradizionale tedesca sul vostro blog. Nel post, fate riferimento all'evento, l'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, e al blog ospitante.

C'è un piatto del quale non potete scrivere: Sächsische Quarkkeulchen (o Quarkkäulchen), la ricetta che presento in questo post. (Per i dettagli sulle regole dell'evento, leggete questo post.)

Utilizzate l'Inlinkz in fondo a questo post per inviarmi i vostri contributi. Potete contribuire post del vostro archivio, ma per favore aggiornateli con le informazioni sull'evento.

Importante: il modulo chiede l'URL del post, il nome (titolo) del post e il vostro indirizzo email. Quest'ultimo non viene pubblicato ma mi serve per contattarvi se necessario. Se avete problemi col modulo Inlinkz, scrivetemi a simosite AT mac DOT com oppure lasciatemi un commento a questo post.

Avete tempo fino a domenica 29 Dicembre a mezzanotte (ora di San Francisco)

Scrivetemi pure se avete domande o dubbi sull'evento e le sue regole.

E adesso vi racconto cosa sono Quarkkeulchen

frittelle leggere e leggermente dolci

In recenti post (come questo), ho detto di aver fatto il formaggio Quark in casa. La ragione principale per tale avventura casearia era la preparazione di Quarkkeulchen.

Il Quark è un formaggio fresco popolare in Germania, dove l'ho mangiato la prima volta e anche l'ultima — prima di produrre il mio. Non so se si trovi in Italia, ma farlo in casa è piuttosto facile: si prende del latte, si aggiungono i fermenti (la ricetta su questa pagina, in inglese, contiene una spiegazione dettagliata di varie opzioni per quanto riguarda i fermenti), si fa riposare il tutto, poi si taglia la cagliata, la si fa drenare e il Quark è pronto.

Quark fresco

Quarkkeulchen sono delle frittelle tipiche della Sassonia preparate con patate e Quark. Richiedono un po' di preparazione ma vale la pena perché sono ottime per una colazione speciale.

In vista per il mio ruolo di ospite, ho letto diverse ricettedi Quarkkeulchen e le ho preparate molte volte, ogni volta aggiustando uno o due dettagli, per la gioia di mio marito, che ama una colazione sostanziosa. Tra le varie fonti di ispirazione, desidero citare in particolare la ricetta di Meeta del blog What's for Lunch Honey?. Il suo post contiene molte informazionie e le foto sono bellissime.

una colazione speciale

La mia versione utilizza la stessa quantità di patate e Quark e fa affidamento all'uvetta della California per fornire dolcezza naturale. Servo le Quarkkeulchen con la mia salsa di mele, che, in base a quanto ho letto, fa parte della tradizione.

Ingredienti:

1 uovo codice 0
75 g patate bollite e passate (Yukon Gold o Purple Majesty)
1 cucchiaio / 12 g zucchero
75 g Quark, magari fatto in casa (vedi Nota in basso)
25 g farina di grano integrale per dolci setacciata
1/4 cucchiaino scorza grattugiata di un'arancia bio
50 g uvetta
un pizzico di sale
olio d'oliva
salsa di mele arrosto

Nota: se il Quark che utilizzate è molto soffice, drenatelo un po' mettendolo in un colino foderato di cotone e posto sopra una ciotola (per raccogliere il siero). Pesarlo dopo averlo drenato. Se poi, prima di aggiungere l'albume montato, il composto risulta molto compatto, aggiungete di nuovo il siero necessario per renderlo morbido.

Rompere l'uovo e separare tuorlo e albume.

Lessare almeno 100 di patate fino a quando sono tenere. Per amore di efficienza, io di solito lesso più patate del necessario e poi con quelle che avanzano faccio del purè. Appena possibile, pelare le patate e passarle con lo schiacciapatate. Pesare la quantità necessaria, metterla in una ciotola e far intiepidire.

Aggiungere alle patate il tuorlo, lo zucchero, il Quark, la farina e la scorza d'arancia grattugiata. Mescolare bene. Aggiungere l'uvetta e mescolare.

Aggiungere il sale all'albume e montare a neve ferma. Incorporare con delicatezza l'albume al composto di patate e Quark.

Far riposare il composto in frigorifero per 20 minuti.

Scaldare una padella ben oliata. Scaldare il forno a 88 C e metterci un piatto resistente al calore.

Con un cucchiaio, versare 2 cucchiai circa (30 ml) di composto nella padella e schiacciare leggermente con il dorso del cucchiaio per formare una frittella rotonda. Ripetere altre 4 volte. Friggere da entrambi i lati fino a quando siano belli dorati (2 minuti circa per parte). Trasferire sul piatto caldo e tenere nel forno.

Oliare di nuovo la padella, se necessario. Utilizzare il resto del composto per fare 5 Quarkkeulchen come sopra.

Servire accompagnate da salsa di mele arrosto.

2 porzioni

un piatto semplice e nutriente

Il sapore delicato delle Quarkkeulchen nasce dal connubio di patate e Quark ed è punteggiato dalle piccole esposioni di dolcezza dell'uvetta. Ogni morbido boccone è una soddisfazione per il palato. La salsa di mele è una compagna perfetta: il suo sapore fruttato richiama quello dell'uvetta e la sua dolcezza naturale non sopraffa il sapore delicato delle Quarkkeulchen. Un piatto per la colazione davvero ottimo.

Con questo post introduco la diciassettesima tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. Q come Quarkkeulchen (Germania) è ospitata da me, Simona di briciole.

La mia ricetta per Quarkkeulchen e la lista dei contributi all'evento.

crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark / Asian pear and Quark cheese tart

December 3, 2013 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

a symphony in three layers

You know how they say that subscribing to a CSA makes you learn to use new types of produce?

Well, it is true.

Asian pears look charming with their distinctive portly shape, exuding authority and the worldly wisdom of someone who has traveled from afar. When I started receiving freshly picked organic Asian pears of the varieties Shinko and Nijisseki (a.k.a. 20th Century, see photo below) in my weekly CSA box a few years ago, I got down to becoming friends with them.

When in doubt, ask the oven for help, is one of my pearls of wisdom. Oven-roasting a sliced Asian pear revealed that the fruit bakes beautifully: in the oven, it turns sweeter and maintains the firmness of flesh that makes it appreciated in some applications.

two Shinko and a Nijisseki (left)

In my enthusiasm, I started adding oven-roasted Asian pears to various dishes, from soup to frittata, to salads (like this one) and to my husband's flaked rye. They also work well in this old recipe, which still goes strong in my winter kitchen.

Recently, ahead of a dinner with friends, when I was laying out plans for a dessert that would use homemade Quark cheese, I remembered a crostata I made some time ago with fromage blanc and applied the recipe to the cheese at hand and Asian pears from Neukom Family Farm.

Here is the result, in my usual minimalist style:

charming simplicity — outside and inside

The crostata has three layers: a base of pasta frolla, a layer of sliced Asian pears and, covering them, like a comforting blanket, a cream made with Quark cheese.

The immediate reason for making Quark cheese at home will be revealed next week. I actually don't know whether you can find it in the US, but it is common in Germany, which is where I ate it first and last — before tasting my own. Making Quark at home is quite easy: take milk, add culture (see the recipe on this page, which contains a detailed explanation and lists various options for the culture) and let it do its work, then cut the curd, drain and you are done. Basically, if you want the thrill of saying "I made this cheese," Quark is your friend.

just drained

The crostata was a sweet success. Hence, it was repeated on Thanksgiving Day with the next batch of Quark cheese and more Asian pears from the same farm. I served it with some of my blackberry sorbet on the side and everybody around the table nodded in approval, while savoring bite after bite.

slice after slice…

A note about Asian pears: Beside Shinko and 20th Century (or Nijisseki) mentioned above, there are a number of other varieties.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark

Ingredients:

For pasta frolla:

1/3 cup ultrafine sugar or 1/2 cup powdered sugar [64 g / 2 1/4 oz.] (see Note 1)
1/2 cup [65 g / 2 1/3 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour (see Note 2)
1/2 cup [60 g / 2 1/8 oz.] whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup [28 g / 1 oz.] almond flour, or almond meal
2 tablespoons millet flour + 2 tablespoons sorghum flour [28 g / 1 oz. total] OR the same amount of barley flour or of unbleached all-purpose flour
A pinch of salt
6 tablespoons [85 g / 3 oz.] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg (possibly from pastured poultry), lightly whisked to blend yolk and white
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract of good quality

For the filling:

14 oz. / 400 g Asian pears, possibly organic (see Note 3)
12 oz. / 340 g fresh Quark or fromage blanc (see Note 4)
1 large egg (possibly from pastured poultry)
2 1/8 oz. / 60 g ultrafine sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract of good quality

Note 1: Ultrafine or superfine sugar is also referred to as baker's sugar. If you cannot find it, you can make your own by putting some regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and letting it run until the sugar is finely ground.

Note 2: The less gluten (as indicated by % protein) in the flour, the better. Do not use bread flour. For my latest rendition I used Perfect Pastry blend by King Arthur Flour.

Note 3: This is a bit more than you need, but it is better to have some leftover slices than not enough. You can always have a pear snack.

Note 4: If you cannot find or make either cheese, you can try using another light fresh cheese that is of similar consistency and flavor.

Make the pasta frolla
Put sugar, flours, and salt in the bowl of the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.

Add butter and pulse a few times until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.

Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface.

If you don't have a food processor: Whisk together sugar, flours and salt in a bowl. Rub or cut the butter into the sugar and flour mixture until it has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.

Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten egg and vanilla extract into it.

Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, then use your fingertips.

Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.

Shape the dough into a flat disk 1 inch / 2.5 cm thick and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. I usually make it the evening before and refrigerate it overnight.

Make the first two layers of the crostata
To bake the crostata, I recommend using a 9 or 9 1/2-inch [23-24 cm] fluted round tart pan with removable bottom, about 1-inch [2.5 cm] high.

Preheat the oven to 350 F [177 C].

Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge and unwrap it. You can roll the dough on a piece of parchment paper or the plastic film in which it was wrapped. This will make the later transfer easier.

Lightly dust with flour the top of the dough and the surface on which you are rolling it. Keep some flour handy to lightly dust the dough as you go along.

If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin's width each time; turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling gently.

Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch [3 mm] thick. If you used parchment paper or plastic wrap as rolling surface, flip the dough over the tart pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the wrap.

Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan and use it, as necessary, where you find that you came up short. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around. You will have only a small amount of dough left over, which you can use to make a thicker edge or a couple of cookies (frollini).

Prick the shell with a fork in several places. Refrigerate while you prepare the pears.

Rinse well the pears, quarter and core them and then cut each quarter into slices no more than 1/4 inch [6 mm] thick.

Take the shell out of the refrigerator and distribute the pear slices on it to create a layer. Having tried both ways, I prefer starting from the outside and make circles until I reach the center. Note that this layer will not be visible so while you want an even distribution of fruit, you don't need to worry about making a pretty pattern.

Put the crostata in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

tart in progress

Prepare the Quark cream
While the crostata is in the oven, in a food processor or blender, blend the last 4 ingredients of the filling until smooth.

The consistency of the cream should be similar to that of pastry cream. If the cream you obtain is more liquid, add to it 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch and blend it well.

Add the third layer and finish baking the crostata
Take the crostata out of the oven and distribute the Quark cream evenly over the pears. If the consistency is right, you will not have any spilling over the edges.

Put the crostata back into the oven, still at 350 F [177 C] and bake for 20 minutes, then check and bake a bit longer if needed (my crostata needs another 5 minutes). The crostata is ready when the crust is light golden and the topping is set.

Remove the crostata from the oven and let cool slightly on a rack. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, release the tart base from the fluted tart ring.

Let cool a bit longer on the rack, then, with the help of a wide spatula, slide the crostata onto a serving plate. Make sure it is completely cool before slicing and serving.

Serves 10-12.

this slice is for you

I really like the combination of flavors and textures in this crostata. The pears are tender, but retain enough firmness to contrast well with the creamy top layer. The Quark cream is light and delicately sweet and the bottom layer provides an interesting crumbly and buttery note to the mix. Every gives the palate a sense of a sweet environment, but the sugar does not overwhelm the other flavors. This is, in my humble opinion, an ideal dessert.

I know this is pie season in the US: have you ever tried crostata instead? You may never go back to pie.

Update (February 2014). Prompted by Frank's comment, I made this recipe using my homemade ricotta instead of quark. The result was good. The main difference was that, since ricotta is not as creamy as quark, the cream layer had a different consistency. The higher water content of ricotta caused a bit of weeping, however, so if you want to try, I suggest you drain the ricotta before using it. That is what I did when I developed the recipe for Ricotta Tart published on Il Cucchiaio d'Argento website.

This is my contribution to edition #413 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 Brii of briggishome and hosted this week by Ivy from Dolce Senza Zucchero.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark

or launch the crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark 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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Thanksgiving Challenge, tart, dessert, Asian pear, Quark cheese, Italian cuisine

crostata di pere asiatiche (Nashi) e formaggio Quark

sinfonia in tre strati

Le pere asiatiche (Nashi) hanno un'aria affascinante con la loro forma tondeggiante che emana un senso di saggezza tipico di chi ha viaggiato a lungo. Quando ho cominciato a ricevere pere asiatiche bio delle varietà Shinko e Nijisseki (detta anche 20th Century, vedi foto sotto) nella mia cassettina, mi sono impegnata a farmele amiche.

Nel dubbio, chiedi aiuto al forno: è una delle mie perle di saggezza. Passare al forno fettine di pere asiatiche ha rivelato che sono un frutto che sostiene bene tale cottura. La buccia si ammorbidisce e la polpa diventa un po' più dolce ma si mantiene soda, una caratteristica che la rende apprezzata in alcune applicazioni.

2 Shinko e una Nijisseki (a sinistra)

Entusiasta della scoperta, ho cominciato ad aggiungere pere asiatiche cotte al forno a vari piatti, da zuppe a frittata, ad insalate (come questa) e ai fiocchi di segale di mio marito.

Di recente, in vista di una cena con amici, quando stavo pensando ad un dolce che utilizzasse il mio formaggio Quark fatto in casa, mi sono ricordata di una crostata fatta tempo fa con prugne e fromage blanc e ho applicato la ricetta al formaggio a disposizione e a delle pere asiatiche della mia cassettina.

Questo è il risultato, nel mio solito stile minimalista:

semplicemente affascinante — fuori e dentro

La crostata ha tre strati: la base di pasta frolla, uno strato di pere asiatiche e a coprirle una crema a base di formaggio Quark.

Il motivo che mi ha spinto a fare il Quark in casa verrà rivelato la prossima settimana. Non so se si trovi in Italia, ma è popolare in Germania, dove l'ho mangiato la prima volta e anche l'ultima — prima di produrre il mio. Fare il Quark in casa è piuttosto facile: si prende del latte, si aggiungono i fermenti (la ricetta su questa pagina, in inglese, contiene una spiegazione dettagliata di varie opzioni per quanto riguarda i fermenti), si fa riposare il tutto, poi si taglia la cagliata e la si fa drenare. In pratica, se volete provare l'emozione di dire "questo formaggio l'ho fatto io" il Quark è un'ottima scelta.

appena finito di drenare

La crostata è stato un successo e quindi l'ho rifatta il giorno del Ringraziamento con del Quark fresco e altre pere asiatiche della stessa azienda agricola. L'ho servita col mio sorbetto di more e i convitati hanno assentito in approvazione mentre ne gustavano un boccone dietro l'altro.

una fetta tira l'altra

Ingredienti per la pasta frolla:

65 g zucchero fine o a velo
60 g farina integrale per torte
65 g farina 00
15 g farina di miglio + 15 g farina di sorgo integrali oppure 30 g farina d'orzo integrale oppure 30 g farina di frumento
30 g farina di mandorle
un pizzico di sale
85 g burro freddo non salato tagliato a pezzetti
un uovo codice 0, leggermente sbattuto per mescolare albume e tuorlo
1/2 cucchiaino di estratto di vaniglia

Ingredienti per il ripieno:

400 g pere asiatiche (Nashi), possibilmente bio (vedi Nota sotto)
340 g formaggio Quark o fromage blanc o altro formaggio fresco cremoso e leggero
1 uovo codice 0
60 g zucchero fine
1/2 cucchiaino di estratto di vaniglia

Nota: questa quantità è un po' più di quanto ne avete bisogno, ma è meglio avere qualche fettina di pere che avanza che non averne abbastanza. Potete sempre godervi uno snack alla frutta.

Fare la pasta frolla
Mettere zucchero e farine nel robot e pulsare alcune volte.

Aggiungere il burro e pulsare un po' di volte per diversi secondi per sabbiare.

Vuotare il contenitore del robot sulla superficie di lavoro.

Se non avete il robot, lavorare il burro nel misto di farine e zucchero con le dita.

Disporre gli ingredienti a fontana e versare l'uovo e l'estratto di vaniglia nel centro. Incorporare gli ingredienti liquidi e solidi con una forchetta e poi con le dita.

Lavorare l'impasto solo fino a quando si forma un composto coeso.

Formare un disco piatto di 2,5 cm di spessore e avvolgerlo nella pellicola. Far riposare la pasta frolla in frigorifero per almeno due ore. Io di solito la preparo di sera e poi la utilizzo il giorno dopo.

Preparare i primi due strati della crostata
Per cuocere la crostata consiglio di usare una teglia per quiche (col bordo scanalato) di 23-24 cm di diametro, alta 2,5 cm e col fondo che si separa dal bordo.

Scaldare il forno a 177 C.

Tirare fuori dal frigorifero la pasta frolla. Potete stendere la pasta su un pezzo di carta da forno o sulla pellicola in cui era avvolta. Questo rende poi più facile trasferirla sulla teglia.

Infarinare leggermente la superficie della pasta frolla e la superficie su cui la stendete. Tenere a portata di mano un poco di farina per infarinare al bisogno.

Se la pasta frolla è dura, premerla con il matterello cominciando dal centro del disco. Muovere il matterello di una larghezza e premere di nuovo. Ruotare la pasta frolla di 90 gradi e ripetere. Quando si è ammorbidita abbastanza, cominciare a stenderla con delicatezza fino ad uno spessore di 3 mm.

Trasferire la pasta frolla sulla teglia e premerla tutt'intorno in modo che il fondo sia ben coperto. Se usate carta da forno o pellicola, rovesciare la pasta frolla sulla teglia e rimuovere il supporto con delicatezza.

Tagliare la pasta frolla in eccesso intorno al bordo ed utilizzarla dove non ce n'è abbastanza o per formare un bordo di larghezza uniforme. Dovrebbe avanzare solo una piccola quantità di pasta frolla che potete utilizzare per fare il bordo più spesso o un paio di frollini.

Punzecchiare il fondo con i rebbi di una forchetta in diversi punti. Mettere in frigorifero mentre preparate le pere.

Lavare le pere, tagliarle in quarti, rimuovere il torsolo e poi tagliare ogni quarto a fettine spesse non più di 6 mm.

Tirare fuori dal frigorifero la base di pasta frolla e distribuire su di essa le fettine di pera in modo da creare uno strato. Io preferisco cominciare dall'esterno e fare cerchi concentrici verso l'interno. Notare che questo strato non è visibile quando la crostata è completata: fate in modo che lo strato sia uniforme ma non preoccupatevi se il disegno delle fettine non è il massimo dell'eleganza.

Infornare e cuocere per 20 minuti.

attenzione: crostata in corso

Preparare la crema di Quark
Mentre la crostata è in forno, in un robot o frullatore frullare gli altri 4 ingredienti del ripieno fino ad ottenere una crema omogenea.

La consistenza della crema che ottenete deve essere simile a quella della crema pasticciera. Se è piu liquida, aggiungere 1/2 cucchiaio di amido di mais e mescolare bene.

Aggiungere il terzo strato e completare la cottura
Tirare fuori dal forno la crostata e distribuire la crema di Quark sopra le pere in uno strato uniforme. Se la consistenza è giusta, la crema non deborderà.

Rimettere la crostata nel forno alla stessa temperatura e cuocere per 20 minuti. Controllare e se necessario cuocere ancora qualche minuto (a questo punto la mia crostata necessita di altri 5 minuti). La crostata è pronta quando il bordo è dorato chiaro e la crema si è addensata.

Sfornare e far raffreddare leggermente su una griglia. Se avete usato una teglia col fondo che si separa, staccare il bordo.

Far raffreddare ancora un po' sulla griglia, poi con l'aiuto di una spatola larga, far scivolare la crostata su un piatto da portata. Fatela freddare del tutto prima di tagliarla e servirla.

10-12 porzioni

gradisce una fetta?

Mi piace molto il connubio di sapori e tessiture di questa crostata. Le pere sono tenere, ma mantengono abbastanza consistenza da fare da contrasto allo strato cremoso. La crema di Quark è leggera e delicatamente dolce e il fondo di pasta frolla aggiunge la sua nota briciolosa e burrosa. Ogni strato contribuisce alla dolcezza del dessert, ma la quantità di zucchero non è eccessiva. Penso che questo sia un dessert ideale.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 413 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 Brii di briggishome e ospitata questa settimana da Ivy di Dolce Senza Zucchero.

Questo post contiene la raccolta dell'evento.

pane alla zucca con siero di latte / winter squash and whey bread

November 25, 2013 | Simona

a beautiful bread

As I was taking my seat at the Zellerbach Playhouse in Berkeley, one October evening in 2005, the man next to me warned me about the play that would soon start: “It’s all in Italian.” I thanked him with a smile and confessed I spoke the language.

In fact, I had seen the same rendition of the play, Arlecchino servitore di due padroni (Servant of Two Masters), some years prior, when I was still living in Milan and could not miss the opportunity to enjoy it again. Supertitles helped the audience navigate the fast dialog spoken not only in Italian, but also in dialect (this video contains a short sample).

I smiled and laughed according to the goings-on on stage and relished again the obvious humor and subtle irony of the comedy by beloved Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni (1707-93). When the comedy came from a physical action, the audience laughed in unison, but when it came from a play of words or an allusion, or was otherwise dependent on the dialog, I laughed in sparse company. People not fluent in Italian had to wait for the supertitles to catch up. And sometimes the humor was culturally rooted, so the translation could not really translate it.

The tables were turned just a short week later. Sitting amid an overwhelmingly Chinese audience at the performance of The Teahouse by the Beijing People’s Art Theater, I was part of the group laughing with some delay and sometimes not at all.

Reading the current Cook the Books selection Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver and family, made me feel a member of the audience at a play in a foreign language without supertitles. I read paragraph after paragraph and had the sense that the intent was humorous, but I did not understand what was that should have elicited my laughter or smile.

I understand the book inspired some of its readers to take a closer look at their eating habits in terms of seasonality and locality and for that I applaud the author. I grew up (in Italy) in an environment where those concept were applied as a matter of tradition, hence they have been part of my life as far as my memory can reach. When I moved to Milan, I moved away from that environment, but the next move, to California, occurred at a time when farmers' market and other forms of direct exchange between producers and consumers started to become more and more popular. For the past few years, I have lived in a situation in many ways similar to the one of my childhood. One difference is that now I make in my kitchen some of the products I used to buy, like bread and cheese. Speaking of which…

In the chapter about a visit to Italy, the author mentions a prized variety of winter squash: Zucca Marina di Chioggia¹. Chioggia is a city at the south end of the Laguna veneta and Sottomarina (Marina in the local dialect) is a quarter of the city.

zucca marina di chioggia

I had a gorgeous Zucca Marina di Chioggia from Organic Matters Ranch and besides making gnocchi with it (a story for another day), I made bread. This variety of zucca is dark blue-green with a silver luster, has a flattened rounded shape with pronounced ribs and an uneven, "warty" surface. It is rather large, so, after roasting it, I got a fair amount of deep orange, thick pulp, rather dry but easily creamed when worked with a fork. The photo above was transformed into black and white using Lightroom Split Tone 2 preset. I did that because, due to the time of day I took the photo, the color was bleached, so I decided to highlight the squash's bumpy surface.

The original recipe of the bread is by Dan Lepard. I made the bread three times so far, and besides Marina di Chioggia, I used Black Futsu squash and Buttercup squash, also from local farmers. The type of squash used makes a difference when measuring the liquid portion of the recipe, which is whey (siero di latte).

I always use part of the whey I obtain when I make fresh cheese to make bread (according to another recipe by Dan Lepard from his book "The Handmade Loaf") and freeze at least some of the rest (that whey is not suitable by itself for making ricotta). The most recent fresh cheese I made is Quark (a story you will soon read).

bread and bowl with squash soup

The original recipe makes one large or two regular loaves: I halve it to make one loaf. I also make some small adjustments, part personal preferences, part experiments.

Ingredients I use:

225 g cooked winter squash (see Note below)
275 ml whey (see Note below)
3.5 g instant yeast
42 g / 1 1/2 oz. sunflower seeds, lightly toasted in a dry skillet
56 g / 2 oz. walnuts, prepared as described below and then chopped
1 tablespoon / 15 ml olive oil
50 g whole-wheat flour
50 g sprouted whole-wheat flour
400 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Note: I add 25 ml of whey to the quantity called for (225 ml) because of the whole-wheat flours I used. I then add 25 ml more, because the squashes I have used are drier than the drained cooked pumpkin used in the original recipe.

How to prepare the winter squash
Preheat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. If the squash is hard, pre-process it as follows: pierce it with a blade in a few places, place it on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat, and bake it for 15 minutes, then let is cool slightly. This makes it easier to cut it in half.

Cut the squash (pre-processed or raw) in half lengthwise and remove the seeds (a grapefruit spoon is my preferred tool for this task). Place squash halves on the silicone baking mat, cut side down. Put back in the oven and bake until squash is tender, easily pierced with a blade. Let the squash cool and then scrape the flesh off the skin, again using a grapefruit spoon.

Weigh the amount required by the recipe. You can use excess squash to make this soup, a bowl of which is visible in the photo above.

How to prepare the walnuts
In her “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”, Deborah Madison gives instructions on how to treat walnuts to improve their flavor when they aren't freshly cracked, and make them less irritating for people who are sensitive to their skins. Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the walnuts and let them stand for one minute, then drain them and absorb the excess moisture with a towel. Finally, spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and place them in the oven preheated to 300 F / 150 C until they have dried out, 15-20 minutes. Remove them from the oven as soon as they are dry.

How to make the bread
Follow the instructions in the original recipe of the bread in terms of mixing, kneading and leavening. (If you are interested in trying delayed fermentation, skip to the next section.)

In preparation for baking, I place my baking tile in the oven. When the loaf is ready for baking, I score it lengthwise and then mist the surface with water. (The recipe does not mention scoring, but the photo shows that it was done.)

Bake the loaf on the stone for 20 minutes at 425 F / 218 C. At the beginning, I make some steam with ice cubes. I turn down the oven to 375 F / 190 C and complete the baking at this temperature (another 20 minutes or so).

Take the loaf out of the oven and place on a rack. Let cool completely before slicing.

Update (11/29): after using overnight fermentation again, followed by baking in a lidded pot, as per Sally's suggestion (see her comment below), I decided to rewrite the section below to provide additional details to interested readers.

How to make the bread using delayed fermentation
Follow the instructions in the original recipe of the bread in terms of mixing, but use only 2.5 g of instant yeast.

After the 10 minute rest and brief kneading, place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover (with a shower cap, plastic film or the bowl's own lid) and refrigerate.

The morning after, take the bowl out of the refrigerator and let the dough come to room temperature. It will look slightly puffy.

Shape the dough into a round loaf: Flatten it, fold it, turn it seam side down, then use your hands and the traction of the kneading board to get a smooth ball with a smooth surface. Place the shaped dough into a brotform lined with floured cloth. Let it rise until a dimple made on the dough with your fingertip persists. The time needed is dependent on the room temperature. (It took my loaf 1 1/2 hour in my cool kitchen to be ready for baking.)

After 1/2 hour or so, place a baking tile in the oven and place a lidded 5-Qt cast-iron Dutch oven on it. Preheat the oven to 425 F / 218 C.

When the dough is ready, cut a piece of parchment paper large enough so that you can take hold of it by the corners and use them to help you lower the dough into the Dutch oven and later to retrieve the bread from it. Flip the dough onto the parchment paper, score the surface and mist the surface with water.

Take the Dutch oven out of the oven, remove the lid, and place in it the shaped dough. Put the lid on and place the Dutch oven back into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 F / 177 C. After 10 more minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes. The bread is done when the surface is golden and tapping the bottom will produce a hollow sound. I also checked the internal temperature and found that it was 205 F / 96 C.

just baked

This version was my favorite in terms of crumb texture and flavor, so I will definitely experiment with it further.

I love this bread. It has a lovely golden crust and a soft crumb in which walnuts and sunflower seeds pop nicely. It has a delicate flavor that charms the palate. It accompanies well many foods and is happy to be eaten by itself. I am sure I will continue making this recipe throughout winter squash season.

¹ In Zucca de Chioggia, "de" is a misspelling and unfortunately it is not the only one in this chapter.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Rachel of the Crispy Cook. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

This post contains the roundup of the event.

I am sending this bread also to the November edition of Panissimo, a monthly event created by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? and hosted this month by Michela of Menta e rosmarino.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

And also:

– to the monthly showcase Sourdough and Yeast by Wisla (in Polish). This is the roundup of the event.

– to Yeastspotting. This is the second part of the roundup, which includes links to the other two parts.

– to Week 4 of 12 Weeks of Winter Squash by Heather of girlichef and Joanne of Eats Well with Others.

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

pane alla zucca con siero di latte

or launch the pane alla zucca con siero di latte 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.]

bread, homemade bread, whey, winter squash

cucinare coi fiori / cooking with flowers

June 20, 2013 | Simona

calendulas from the farmers’ market

and freshly picked from my garden

Ever since I started reading Cooking With Flowers, Sweet and Savory Recipes with Rose Petals, Lilacs, Lavender, and Other Edible Flowers by Miche Bacher I look at flowers with different eyes. I knew that a number of flowers were edible (commestibili), from zucchini blossoms (fiori di zucca) to herb flowers (which I have used, for example, in rye bread) to roses (which I have used to flavor ice cream). But I did not know that orchids are edible and so are daylilies and lilacs, to name just a few.

FTC disclosure: I have received a free review copy of Cooking With Flowers from the publisher. I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for discussing it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

After the introduction, the book devotes a chapter to each flower, from Calendulas to Violets. At the end, there is a section called The Basics, which covers a lot of ground, from flower sugars to flower vinegars and a lot more. The book’s website has a page with some recipes that give you an idea of what to expect. Lovely photos complement the rich content. Overall, Cooking With Flowers is a pleasure to browse. You can take a look at the first 19 pages by clicking the “View interior spread” link on the book’s web page.

Now, please, follow me in a short photo journey of a few of the dishes I made according to the book (marked with an asterisk *) or inspired by it.

I started with calendula flowers. For my first experiments, I bought a bunch of calendulas at the farmers’ market, because the ones in my garden had not yet bloomed. As you can see from the photos above, those lovely flowers are quite photogenic. I used calendula petals (petali) as an ingredient in:

cookies (*)

kefir cheese

challah

scrambled eggs (*)

The recipe for Calendula Scrambled Eggs in the book only gives instructions on the amount of petals to use. For my first ever rendition of scrambled eggs, I followed my friend Sally‘s meditative recipe (from a personal communication; however, she just published a post on frittata where she talks about some important facts about eggs that have a bearing also on the making of scrambled eggs).

I also created a special pasta (hinted at in a recent black and white photo post), which will be described in detail soon.

While the experiments with calendula flowers were going on, nasturtiums exploded in my garden, so I turned my attention to them. I made “stained glass” maltagliati and

nasturtium vinegar (*)

The bright orange color is simply spectacular. I have also added nasturtium flowers and young leaves to pans of leafy green vegetables (no good photo available yet).

While decorating cakes is not my thing, using flowers to brighten savory dishes thrills me: Cooking With Flowers caters to all preferences. It is a book I wish I had written, because I wish I had Miche Bacher’s in-depth knowledge about flowers and her elegant way of sharing it. I am sure the book will instruct and inspire other interesting uses of flowers besides the ones I showed in this post. Thank you, Miche Bacher, for writing a great book!

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

cucinare coi fiori

or launch the cucinare coi fiori 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.]

edible flowers, book review

Havarti con aneto / dill Havarti

May 7, 2013 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

just sliced

Traveling with the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), we've arrived in Denmark (Danimarca). Finally, we are in a country I have visited, albeit briefly.

It was in Denmark that I first experienced the long days characteristic of summer in northern Europe. One August, years ago, three friends of mine and I drove from Italy to Norway and back, a wonderful trip that brought us to seven countries: Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

On our way up, we visited Copenhagen, where I enjoyed our walk inside the Kastellet, "one of the best preserved star fortresses in Northern Europe." We paid a visit to the Little Mermaid (Sirenetta), but didn't see it well, because shortly before we arrived close enough to get a good look at the famous little statue, a busload of tourists descended upon the poor girl, all but blocking her from sight.

We spent the night in Roskilde, famous for its music festival. The window in our room did not have a serranda, the tight-closing shutter common in Italian homes, but not, as I already knew, elsewhere. Looking at the window from my bed I noticed that, even when my watch indicated a late hour, the sky was not completely dark.

In Helsingor, "known internationally for its castle Kronborg, where William Shakespeare's play Hamlet is set," we took the ferry to Helsingborg, in Sweden. I have some photos from that trip but due to some moving of stuff that happened in our house recently, they are in an unidentified box, so I cannot share them here.

a view of the curds

To celebrate our stop, I decided to make a Danish cheese (formaggio danese) that has been on my to-do list for a while: Havarti. Sometimes a cheese with bold flavor is desired, but other times, a mild flavor is called for and then Havarti is a nice option.

I have several recipes for Havarti in my various cheese-making books. I chose to make the version in Mary Karlin's book, "Artisan Cheese Making at Home," because it has an option to eat the cheese fresh (i.e., not aged), which allowed me to make the cheese, taste it, and write about it within the limit of our sojourn in Denmark.

I followed the recipe almost as given in the book. The home cheese makers among my readers may be interest in knowing that for this cheese, I tried something I had read in "The Joy of Cheesemaking" by Jody Farnham and Marc Druart, namely, I used a blend of pasteurized non-fat milk and pasteurized heavy whipping cream (as an approximation of milk that has not been homogenized).

I don't yet have dill from my little herb garden, but got some as part of my spring CSA share. Since the recipe calls for dried dill and I had fresh dill, I dried a few sprigs in the microwave (my first time doing this) following these instructions. Dill being a delicate herb (erba aromatica), you want to be particularly careful in monitoring the process to avoid burning it.

the moment of truth

It is always with a bit of trepidation that I plunge the knife into one of my cheeses. In this case, the result matched expectations: my dill Havarti has a mild, fresh flavor of milk with just a light note of dill. It is a nice cheese to put into a sandwich, or to eat plain with my panini quadrifoglio, or with this flatbread. I also used it successfully in my famous roasted strawberry frittata (instead of French Neufchâtel).

I will make this cheese again and this time I will age it a bit. I don't expect most of you to follow me in the making of this cheese, but if you see in in the case of your cheesemonger, why not give Havarti a try?

My dill Havarti participates to the sixth installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. F like Frikadeller (Denmark) is hosted by Leonilde of Le affinità elettive.

This page contains Frikadeller's recipe and the list of recipe contributed to the event.

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

Havarti con aneto

or launch the Havarti con aneto audio file [mp3].

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Havarti, cheese, dill

Havarti con aneto

la prima fetta

L'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea ci porta in Danimarca. Finalmente siamo in un paese che ho visitato, sebbene molto brevemente.

In Danimarca ho fatto la prima esperienza delle giornate lunghe caratteristiche dell'estate nel Nordeuropa. Un Agosto di un po' di anni fa, io e tre amici abbiamo fatto un bel giro in auto dall'Italia alla Norvegia e ritorno, toccando Svizzera, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germania, Danimarca e Svezia.

Nel viaggio di andata abbiamo visitato Copenaghen dove ho gradito una lunga passeggiata all'interno del Kastellet, antica fortificazione militare a forma di stella che oggi è un parco aperto al pubblico. Siamo andati dove si trova la statua della Sirenetta, ma non siamo riusciti a vederla bene a causa dell'arrivo poco prima di noi di un autobus pieno di turisti che hanno invaso lo spazio aereo intorno alla povera ragazza bloccandone la vista.

Abbiamo pernottato a Roskilde, famosa per il suo importante festival della musica. La finestra della stanza dove ho dormito non aveva serranda, solo una tenda di stoffa. Dal letto ho notato che nonostante l'ora tarda segnata dal mio orologio, il cielo non era buio.

Ad Helsingor (Elsinore), che è sede del castello di Kronborg, dove William Shakespeare ha ambientato Amleto, abbiamo preso il traghetto per Helsingborg, in Svezia. Ho delle foto del viaggio ma a causa di un recente trasloco interno sono in una scatola priva di identificazione e quindi non sono in grado di condividerle in questo post.

controllo della cagliata

Per celebrare la nostra visita ho deciso di fare dell'Havarti, un formaggio danese che era sulla mia lista da tempo. Talvolta vogliamo un formaggio dal sapore forte e deciso, ma altre volte preferiamo un sapore delicato e in questi casi Havarti è un'ottima opzione.

Ho diverse ricette per fare l'Havarti nei miei libri di arte casearia. Ho scelto di fare la versione nel libro di Mary Karlin "Artisan Cheese Making at Home" (in inglese), perché offre l'opzione di consumare il formaggio fresco, cioè non stagionato, il che mi ha consentito di fare il formaggio, assaggiarlo e parlarne in un post nei limiti di tempo del nostro soggiorno in Danimarca.

Non avrei problemi a tradurre la ricetta in italiano se fossi sicura che potete trovare gli ingredienti per farla, ma mentre so che è possibile acquistare il caglio in farmacia, a quanto ne so in Italia non si trovano i fermenti per inoculare il latte. Se qualcuno scopre che non è così, vi prego di farmelo sapere. [Alcune ricette per fare il formaggio in casa usano lo yogurt per inoculare il latte, ma per fare l'Havarti ci vogliono batteri diversi da quelli che si trovano nello yogurt (ammesso che lo yogurt che usate abbia fermenti lattici vivi).]

Non ho ancora piantine di aneto nel mio orticello e quindi ho usato un po' di quello che ho trovato nella mia cassettina. Dal momento che la ricetta richiede aneto secco e il mio era fresco, ne ho seccati alcuni rametti nel forno a microonde sequendo queste istruzioni. Dato che l'aneto è un'erba aromatica delicata vi consiglio di monitorare con attenzione il processo di essiccamento per evitare di bruciarla.

il momento della verità

È sempre con un po' di trepidazione che affondo la lama in una delle mie forme di formaggio per tagliare la prima fettina. In questo caso il risultato ha soddisfatto le aspettative: il mio Havarti ha un sapore delicato di latte con giusto una nota di aneto. È un formaggio adatto per fare un panino o da mangiare al naturale, magari con uno dei miei panini quadrifoglio, o con questa schiacciata. L'ho anche usato con successo nella mia famosa frittata con fragole arrosto (invece del French Neufchâtel).

Farò questo formaggio di nuovo e stavolta lo farò stagionare un po'. Spero che il mio post vi faccia venire la curiosità di assaggiare l'Havarti, magari, se lo trovate, quello con l'aneto.

Con il mio Havarti con aneto partecipo alla sesta tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. F come Frikadeller (Danimarca) è ospitata da Leonilde de Le affinità elettive.

Questa pagina contiene la ricetta per Frikadeller e la lista delle ricette contribuite all'evento.

Se siete interessati a partecipare, questo post contiene la lista completa di paesi, blog ospitanti e scadenze.

del formaggio, per favore / some cheese, please

March 3, 2013 | Simona

homemade cheese and bread

A slice of Leerdammer, one of Manchego plus some rye bread (pane di segale): that's what's in the spread above. Trust me, it's lovely. (In fact, it was eaten as soon as I finished taking photos.)

I like sweet, nutty Leerdammer a lot, and I am very pleased with the nice holes it has. I wrote about my first attempt in this post and by comparing the results, you can see that my formaggio coi buchi looks much nicer now, thanks to a bit of practice during the past three years. The recipe I follow comes from the book 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes by Debra Amrein-Boyes (I halve it, using two gallons of milk.)

Manchego with saffron threads

I have made Manchego-style cheese many times using different recipes, as described, for example, this post. (I am calling the cheese Manchego-style because true Manchego is made with ewe's milk, while my cheese was made with cow's milk.) The version above was made following the recipe in Mary Karlin's book Artisan Cheese Making at Home and it includes some saffron (zafferano). The photo shows the cheese ready for aging.

What I like about this cheese is that it can be eaten young or aged longer. This time, I cut it after 10 days of aging.

Manchego curds with saffron threads

Above is an image from the process of making the Manchego, where you can see a couple of saffron threads among the white curds. The image was taken shortly before putting the curds in the mold.

The cheese has a lightly elastic texture, a pleasant smell of young cheese and a delicate flavor that makes it perfect for a snack.

The top photo is my contribution to edition #73 of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte aka kochtopf.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and white (Lightroom preset Split Tone 1).

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

And I suspect the cheese lovers participating in the year long Cheesepalooza project, organized by Valerie of A Canadian Foodie will enjoy watching the photos in this post. Manchego is one of the cheeses chosen for the March edition and while Leerdammer is not Jarlsberg, the process for making the two cheeses has similarities and they both have holes. I have also made Jarlsberg, more than once, and this is a post about it.

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

del formaggio, per favore

or launch the del formaggio, per favore 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.]

cheese, Leerdammer, Manchego

Crescenza fatta in casa / homemade Crescenza

October 9, 2012 | Simona

savoring the fruit of my labor

Crescenza is a soft, rindless cheese from Lombardia that is great to eat on its own, to savor its fresh, milky flavor, or to use in cooking. A few weeks ago, I read this post, in which Ian, one of the participants in the Cheesepalooza event, described his experience making Crescenza according to Mary Karlin's recipe. I immediately decided to try making it. I found Ms. Karlin's recipe on this page, whereas Ian got it from her book Artisan Cheese Making at Home. [March 22, 2014 update: the page on Culture magazine's website referenced in the last sentence is no longer available, so when I recently made Crescenza again, I followed the recipe on this page, but halved the amount of milk and of the other ingredients and also of the time the cheese is brined. Having in the meantime acquired a 7.5-inch / 19 cm round mold, I make only one cheese. Read the post until the end when I discussed aging, another place where I diverge from the original recipe.]

Here are some images from the process (as you know, I ♥ making cheese):

early draining phase

I don't have square bottomless molds, so I used two cylindrical bottomless molds.

Advice #1 When a cylindrical bottomless mold has just been filled with curds, it is quite unstable. A minor jiggle may cause it to lift up, in which case the curds will rush out from the bottom: not what you want (trust me). To help prevent the mold from moving, I suggest to put a sterilized piece of cloth under the mold (as shown in this post). You won't see such a cloth in the photo, because this time I forgot to use it.

late draining phase

It does not take a long time for the mass of curds to lose whey (siero di latte) and become more compact. Once draining is done, the cheese is moved into a brine bath (salamoia).

in the brine

Advice #2. When moving cheese, for example from the draining box into the brine and then from the brine back into the draining box, never pick it up by pressing your fingers on the side, but always raise it by placing your hands underneath it.

While the cheese was brining, I made ricotta with the leftover whey.

just out of the brine

In case you are wondering, the texture on the surface is a combination of the imprints of two different draining mats.

After brining, the cheese is air-dried, covered, for an hour before being refrigerated.

veiled beauties

Overall, the recipe is pretty straightforward and since this is a fresh cheese, you don't have to wait long to taste the fruit of your labor. How long? On this important point, the recipe is not specific. These are the last two sentences:

Wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap or vacuum-seal, and refrigerate until ready to use. Best if used within one week. Bring to room temperature before serving

I wrapped the two cheeses in plastic wrap and refrigerated them, then took one out before dinner and tasted it: the texture was nice, but the flavor bland. I wrapped it again and put it back in the refrigerator. Two days later, I emptied the whey that had collected at the bottom of the container where the cheeses were and prepared it for a second taste: much better. I could start to taste the distinctive delicate tang of Crescenza. The flavor continued to improve in the following 3-4 days, then plateaued. My observation is actually consistent with what I read in a couple of pages (like this one and this one, both in Italian), where the ripening time of crescenza is indicated to be 5-7 days. Hence, the second time I made crescenza, I let it ripen 5 days before tasting it.

In the introdutory note, Ms. Karlin says: "A small amount of rennet is also stirred in, resulting in a slightly firmer cheese than classic Crescenza." This is fine by me. I definitely agree with the last instruction: bring cheese to room temperature before serving it.

My Crescenza was such a success that both times I have made it, it has disappeared quickly (within a few days of first tasting). Crescenza is great on a piece of bread (the one in the top photo is pumpkin bread) and in cooked dishes (for example, instead of robiola in my curried sweet chilli peppers and also in my version of a traditional Italian cheese dish that will be the subject of a post in the near future).

Valerie of A Canadian Foodie has launched a year long event called Cheesepalooza, which encourages people to take up home cheese making via monthly challenges of increasing complexity. Crescenza is one of the optional cheeses chosen for the second month, when the main challenge was making basic chèvre. This post contains the roundup of optional cheeses for month #2.

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

Crescenza fatta in casa

or launch the Crescenza fatta 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.]

crescenza, cheese

Halloumi fatto in casa / homemade Halloumi

September 12, 2012 | Simona

Halloumi and Anari from its leftover whey

Halloumi is from the island of Cyprus and is characterized as a semi-hard, unripened, and brined cheese made traditionally from mostly sheep's milk with the addition of a smaller amount of goat's milk. Modern Halloumi is made from a mix of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes cow's milk is added.

Thus Jim Wallace introduces this wonderful cheese on the page dedicated to his recipe for making Halloumi at home. Every month, Jim contributes a cheese recipe to the Moosletter, the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company newsletter and I look forward to receiving it to see what Jim has been experimenting with in his cheese lab, which I know well, having attended two workshops there.

The recipe for Halloumi comes with all the details you need to replicate it and plenty of photographs to illustrate the various steps. I won't repeat anything here, but rather share notes about my experience and a few images from my kitchen.

Two bloggers I have been following for years, Ivy of Kopiaste and Peter of Kalofagas, first introduced me to Halloumi. Ivy has also written a post describing the making of it. I actually had made Halloumi once, a couple of years ago, using the recipe from one of my books, but I was not particularly excited about the result, though the cheese was quickly consumed. The part that was hardest to handle was having to keep the cheese in the brine, because the jar with it occupied a lot of space in the fridge. So, I was happy to see that Jim's recipe offers a way of making the cheese without the brine bath.

The first time I made Halloumi using Jim's recipe, I used all cow's milk, while for all the subsequent renditions (and there have been several so far), I used half fresh goat's milk (latte di capra) and half cow's milk (latte di mucca). Of course, I wish I could use sheep's milk (latte di pecora), but that is unavailable where I live. In California, Bellwether Farms make cheese, ricotta and yogurt with sheep milk from their own flock and Barinaga Ranch make cheese from theirs. I am not yet ready to get my own ewes in order to have their milk, so I make the best of what I have.

halloumi curds in the mold

I am not very good at taking photos while I am focusing on cutting and stirring the curds, so the first image is of the curds already nicely settled into the mold.

after the first flip

I use my ricotta basket as mold.

a creative weighing apparatus

Only a light weight is needed and for a short time. The mold sits on a raised grate inside a draining container. I always collect the whey (siero di latte) when I make cheese, but in this case it is even more important to do so, as the cheese must be scalded in the whey. First, however, Anari is made.

The whey used for scalding must first be heated to about 195°F (91°C) to bring out the whey proteins from the liquid. This whey curd is then skimmed off and drained in baskets. If you were in Cyprus, you could call this whey cheese “Anari” and it looks just like Ricotta.

I make ricotta a bit differently from the way Jim describes in his recipe. I don't add milk and I use a small quantity of kefir whey (leftover from making kefir cheese) to acidify the whey when it reaches the high temperature.

The Halloumi is then boiled in this clarified hot whey until it floats.

reaching the surface during scalding

When you first put the cheese into the hot whey, it sinks, but as the scalding proceeds, the cheese makes its way to the surface. I leave the cheese in the mold so it does not touch to bottom of the pot when I first immerse it.

ready to be folded

When you take Halloumi out of the pot, it is malleable, so you can use your hand to flatten it a bit. Then comes the salting and the flavoring:

Halloumi is often garnished with mint to add to the taste. Traditionally, the mint leaves were used as a preservative. This practice came about when it was considered that Halloumi kept better and was fresher and more flavorful when wrapped with mint leaves.

I have plenty of fresh mint (menta) in my garden, so I used some of it for this step. The folded cheese is then ready for some rest in the fridge (four days), after which you're in for a treat.

ready to be sliced

What's so special about this cheese? "Halloumi is also unique in having a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled." That's right: you can pan-fry or grill slices of Halloumi and they will crisp on the surface and soften inside, but won't melt.

served on a bed of roasted cherry tomatoes

Although the cheese keeps its shape, its outward appearance turns into a crispy, golden-brown color when fried or browned and with grill marks when grilled, it softens significantly but it does not melt.

The photo above is dated July 23, four days after I made my first Halloumi. Up until then, I had served roasted cherry tomatoes with ciliegine, according to my recipe, but from that day on, it's always been Halloumi, pan-fried in a cast-iron skillet previously sprayed with olive oil.

Besides sharing my enthusiasm for homemade Halloumi, with this post, I am celebrating the fourth anniversary of my adventures in cheese making. It's been an incredible journey so far, and one that I have no intention to interrupt. In January 2011, I started a spreadsheet with the dates and summary details of the cheeses I make. (That was an improvement over my previous record-keeping method.) The other day, I looked at how many cheese entries there were for the past 20 months: 66! This number includes only the first record of making kefir, kefir cheese and yogurt. I make these three dairy products regularly (kefir almost every day) and I no longer record them.

In these four years, I have seen interest in making cheese at home steadily increase, as testified by the publication of several books on the subject. Most recently, Valerie of A Canadian Foodie has launched a year long event called Cheesepalooza, which encourages people to take up home cheese making via monthly challenges of increasing complexity. Starting something new together with other people is a nice way to overcome the shyness and trepidation that can prevent us from making the first step. The cheese chosen for the second month is basic chèvre and there are also several optional cheeses (like cream cheese and fromage blanc, which I have already discussed here, and crescenza, which I made last week and will make again to get some photos to share).

Update. The cheese for the third month is Halloumi or Feta, so it turns out I was a bit prescient with my post.

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

Halloumi fatto in casa

or launch the halloumi 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.]

halloumi, cheese

una serata alla Scala e mascarpone / an evening at La Scala and mascarpone

August 13, 2012 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Welcome to the Teatro alla Scala, the crown jewel of Italian opera theaters.

the view from our box

Three years ago, we spent a memorable evening in this dazzling place.

my seat

The small screen displays the subtitles. My husband was able to select the English version of the subtitles.

bravi!

We watched Gaetano Donizetti’s Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali: it is an opera about staging an opera and is quite amusing.

the front of the building

Looking at il tempio della lirica (the temple of lyrical opera) always makes me think of Giuseppe Verdi.

In this excerpt from the 1982 TV movie on Verdi’s life, we see the young composer in the upper gallery of La Scala listening to Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love). And in this one, we see him having his first major success with the opera Nabucco. The soprano in the opera was Giuseppina Strepponi, who would become Verdi’s partner and later his (second) wife.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

Walking from La Scala to Piazza Duomo through the Galleria is nice any time of the day, particularly so at night.

at the intersection

This is one of the most elegant places in Italy and one I love dearly, as I dearly love Milano, the city where I lived for 10 years before moving to California.

In our tour of the Italian regions with the Abbecedario culinario d’Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), we have reach Lombardia (Lombardy), of which Milan is the capital. There are many beautiful places to visit in Lombardia besides Milan: Pavia, Mantova, Lake Como, Bergamo (home town of Donizetti), Cremona, Valtellina and many, many more.

My first contribution to the Abbecedario for this instalment was a recipe from my archive: polenta taragna, typical of Valtellina. My second contribution is the presentation of a variation on the recipe to make mascarpone, a cheese typical of the region, in particular the area around the city of Lodi. (Coincidentally, Strepponi was born in that city.)

I have already published a recipe for mascarpone. Last week, I decided to try to make cultured mascarpone, following the recipe by Jim Wallace, roughly halving the quantities. The result was very nice.

In this version, the cream and milk blend needs to be warmed up only to 86 F. Then, the culture takes it from there. The blend I used was made up of

1 1/2 cup (355 ml) heavy whipping cream 40% butterfat: this is a higher butterfat content than what I usually use (35%)
1 cup (235 ml) non-fat milk: this is more than I usually use, and I did it to balance out the higher butterfat content of the cream; the blend’s overall butterfat content was 24%

I didn’t have the direct-set crème fraîche culture, but I did have half a package of the direct-set fromagina culture, which includes the same lactic bacteria. Based on the description (“a cross between Fromage Blanc and Mascarpone”), I thought it would be fine to use it. Next time, I will try using crème fraîche culture to taste the difference. Both direct-set cultures contain a small amount of rennet to help form the curd.

I started the process in the evening, after sanitizing the pan and all the tools needed. I warmed up to 86 F the cream and milk blend to which I had added 5 drops of calcium chloride diluted in 2 tablespoons of cool water. At temperature, I added the culture as described in Jim’s recipe. I left the covered pan undisturbed overnight, wrapped in a towel. The morning after, I found that the blend had set nicely into a very soft curd and was ready for the draining step.

I initially drained the mascarpone using a sterilized cotton napkin, as I usually do, but for some reason the draining was not proceeding well, so I moved the mascarpone onto a double layer of cheese mesh (also sterilized) and that worked well. I stopped the draining when the mascarpone had the desired consistency (see photo above). I collected the whey and froze it for later use to make bread.

The day the mascarpone was ready to be consumed, we had freshly picked peaches (pesche) from Neukom Family Farm and it seemed obvious to put the two together in a bowl. Nothing else is required: this is a rich and satisfying dessert that you eat slowly and cherish spoon after spoon.

As this page on Lodi states:

The pride of local produce include cheeses, the most famous being Mascarpone, but also Pennerone, Lodi Granone, cheeses with flavours that these days are becoming hard to find. And the Raspadura, a grana-like fresh cheese traditionally served in thin slices cut with a special knife which makes the cheese curl in on itself.

the cheese and the special blade to make curls

It is really fun to watch Raspadura being cut.

the blade at work

It is difficult to stop eating the sweet smelling curls of cheese once you open the container in which they are packaged for you. The writing on the apron says “tipico lodigiano” (typical from Lodi).

This is my submission for the 13th 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. P come Pavia is hosted by Paola of Voglia di cucina…Voglia di sognare…. This page contains the list of dishes submitted to the event and a slide show.

And I suspect the cheese lovers participating in the year long Cheesepalooza project, organized by Valerie of A Canadian Foodie will enjoy watching some of the photos in this post. Mascarpone is one of the optional cheeses that the group will make this month, so I am contributing my mascarpone adventures to the effort.

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

serata alla Scala e mascarpone

or launch the una serata alla Scala e mascarpone 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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mascarpone, peach

una serata alla Scala e mascarpone

Benevenuti al Teatro alla Scala.

veduta dal nostro palco

Tre anni fa passammo una serata memorabile in questo luogo davvero speciale.

la mia sedia

Un piccolo monitor personale mostra i sottotitoli. Mio marito ha potuto selezionare i sottotitoli in inglese.

bravi!

Abbiamo visto Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali di Gaetano Donizetti, un’opera che ha come tema la messa in scena di un’opera: davvero divertente.

la facciata

Il Teatro alla Scala mi fa sempre pensare a Giuseppe Verdi e allo sceneggiato che la RAI trasmise nel 1982. Di Verdi, proprio la scorsa stagione la San Francisco Opera ha messo in scena Attila, una co-produzione della Scala, regia di Gabriele Lavia, scene di Alessandro Camera e costumi di Andrea Viotti. Tra l’altro il direttore musicale dell’Opera è un italiano: Nicola Luisotti. Il quartetto italiano di cui sopra aveva già un’opera nel programma 2011-12, il Don Giovanni di Mozart. Entrambi gli spettacoli sono stati molto belli.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

Camminare dalla Scala a Piazza Duomo attraverso la Galleria è un piacere ad ogni ora del giono, ma in particolare di sera quando è tutta illuminata.

sotto la cupola centrale

Questo è uno dei luoghi più eleganti d’Italia e uno che amo in modo particolare, come amo Milano, dove ho vissuto quasi 10 anni, prima di trasferirmi in California.

Nel nostro tour dell’Italia insieme alla carovana dell’Abbecedario culinario d’Italia siamo arrivati in Lombardia, dove ci sono molti posti bellissimi da visitare, a parte Milano: Pavia, Mantova, il Lago di Como, Bergamo, Cremona, la Valtellina e tanti altri.

Il mio primo contributo all’Abbecedario per questa tappa è stato una ricetta dal mio archivio: la polenta taragna, tipica della Valtellina. Il mio secondo contributo è la presentazione di una variazione della ricetta per fare il mascarpone, formaggio tipico lombardo, in particolare del lodigiano.

Una curiosità: in California c’è una città che si chiama Lodi (debitamente gemellata con la Lodi originale) e ci passiamo ogni volta che andiamo sulla Sierra Nevada. La Lodi californiana si trova nella San Joaquin Valley. Ma pare che Lodi sia un nome popolare nel Nuovo Mondo: guardate qui quante Lodi ci sono.

Ho già pubblicato una ricetta per fare il mascarpone in casa (post bilingue). Mi rendo conto che in Italia è molto più semplice comprarlo, ma vi assicuro che fare il mascarpone oltre ad essere relativamente semplice, dà molta soddisfazione. La ricetta di cui sopra fa uso di acido tartarico oppure di succo di limone. La scorsa settimana ho provato a fare il mascarpone con la coltura di batteri, seguendo la ricetta di Jim Wallace, e dimezzando (all’incirca) le quantità. Il risultato è molto buono. In questa versione è la miscela di panna e latte deve essere scaldata solo fino a 30 C, poi la coltura batterica si prende cura del resto, a temperatura ambiente.

La miscela di panna e latte che ho usato contiene

355 ml di panna da montare al 40% di grasso: questo contenuto di grasso è più elevato di quello che uso di solito (35%)
235 ml di latte scremato pastorizzato: questa quantità è maggiore di quella che uso di solito ma ho voluto bilanciare il più elevato contenuto di grasso della panna; ll contenuto totale di grasso della miscela è 24% (entro i valori ideali per fare il mascarpone)

Non avevo la coltura pronta per fare la crème fraîche, ma avevo mezzo pacchetto di coltura pronta per fromagina, che comprende gli stessi batteri lattici. In base alla descrizione (“un incrocio tra Fromage Blanc e Mascarpone”), ho pensato che sarebbe andata bene. La prossima volta proverò ad utilizzare la coltura per fare la crème fraîche per assaggiare la differenza. Entrambe le colture pronte contengono una piccola quantità di caglio.

La sera dopo cena, dopo aver sterilizzato una pentola e tutti gli strumenti che vengono a contatto con panna e latte, ho aggiunto 5 gocce di cloruro di calcio diluite in 30 ml di acqua fredda alla miscela, ho mescolato bene e poi l’ho scaldata fino a 30 C. Una volta raggiunta la temperatura, ho sparso la coltura sulla superficie, l’ho lasciata rinvenire per alcuni minuti e ho mescolato bene. Ho coperto la pentola e l’ho lasciata a temperatura ambiente, avvolta in un asciugamano per rallentare la perdita di calore. La mattina dopo ho trovato una cagliata soffice, pronta per essere drenata.

All’inizio ho usato, come al solito, un tovagliolo di cotone sterilizzato, ma per qualche motivo il drenaggio non procedeva bene e allora ho versato il mascarpone su un doppio strato di retina fitta per formaggio, anch’esso sterilizzato (il mio post precedente sul mascarpone fatto in casa comprende una foto e ulteriori dettagli sulla fase di drenaggio). Ho interrotto il drenaggio quando il mascarpone ha raggiunto la consistenza desiderata (vedi foto sopra). Il siero che ho raccolto l’ho congelato per uso futuro nel fare il pane.

Il giorno che il mascarpone era pronto per essere gustato ho ricevuto delle belle pesche appena colte dalla Neukom Family Farm e mi è sembrato ovvio mettere insieme i due. Non c’è bisogno di aggiungere altro: questo è un dessert ricco e soddisfacente da gustare lentamente, un cucchiaino dopo l’altro.

Come dice questa pagina dedicata ai cibi tipici del lodigiano:

Le glorie locali sono soprattutto i formaggi, il più famoso dei quali è il mascarpone, ma anche il pannerone, il granone Lodigiano, formaggio dal sapore oggi sempre più raro da trovare e la raspadura, un formaggio grana fresco che la tradizione vuole sia servito in sottili lamine che si arricciano su se stesse e raschiate sulla superficie della forma da un particolare coltello.

il formaggio e la lama speciale

Guardare mentre tagliano la raspadura è divertente.

la lama al lavoro

Poi è difficile smettere di mangiare le lamine di formaggio profumate.

Questo è un altro 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. P come Pavia è ospitata da Paola di Voglia di cucina…Voglia di sognare…

Questa pagina contiene la lista dei piatti contribuiti all’evento e uno slide show.

briciole

Simona Carini serves recipes and Italian words related to food

Cheese making

cagliata / cheese curds

Q come Quarkkeulchen / Q like Quarkkeulchen

Q come Quarkkeulchen

crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark / Asian pear and Quark cheese tart

crostata di pere asiatiche (Nashi) e formaggio Quark

pane alla zucca con siero di latte / winter squash and whey bread

Havarti con aneto / dill Havarti

Havarti con aneto

del formaggio, per favore / some cheese, please

Crescenza fatta in casa / homemade Crescenza

Halloumi fatto in casa / homemade Halloumi

una serata alla Scala e mascarpone / an evening at La Scala and mascarpone

una serata alla Scala e mascarpone