slow-roasted heirloom tomato gazpacho / gazpacho di pomodori semisecchi al forno

September 14, 2016 | Simona

bright colors and flavors
(napkin by La FABBRICA del LINO)

A soup lover like me¹ was excited to get a copy of Soup Swap: Comforting Recipes to Make and Share² the new cookbook by Kathy Gunst³, Resident Chef for NPR's "Here and Now." If the idea of hosting or attending a Soup Swap Party sounds appealing is because it is: the book provides suggestions and tips for a successful event. Rest assured, though: you don't need to be planning a party to enjoy the book. Its recipes are dedicated to soup lovers of all sizes and flavors: they include vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options—besides making meat and fish lovers happy. And to complete the soup dinner, the book includes also recipes for side dishes.

FTC disclosure: I have received an advanced reading copy of Soup Swap: Comforting Recipes to Make and Share from the publisher⁴. 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.

I went back and forth a number of recipes, but then settled on Joe's Summer Garden Tomato Gazpacho for two reasons.

The first time I ate gazpacho, years ago, I liked it so much I reached for a second helping. Shortly after lunch, I boarded a boat and it did not end well for my digestive system. I decided the recipe was a clear indication it was time I overcame that negative association and made my own gazpacho.

The second reason had to do with the recipe headnote. The Joe of the title is Joe Yonan, Food and Dining editor of the Washington Post. He is quoted as stating "Unless you're roasting the tomatoes to concentrate their flavor, you may have to help them taste like themselves." He goes on to suggest adding a touch of vinegar and a little honey or sugar to the tomatoes "to bring out all their goodness." Of course, I thought: slow-roasted heirloom tomatoes will make a great base for gazpacho—no sweetener required.

beauties from Neukom Family Farm

My recipe for slow-roasted heirloom tomatoes is from two summers ago⁵. The tomatoes on the photos are from this summer crop.

before…
(Stainless Steel Slotted Serving Spoon from Zeroll)

Since I am making soup, I reduce slightly the amount of time I slow-roast the heirloom tomatoes with respect to what I usually do.

slow-roasted heirloom tomatoes / IMG_4904

and after four hours of slow roasting

The book arrived in time for me to make several batches of the gazpacho to adjust the recipe to my liking. In particular, I used shallot (scalogno) from my garden, roasted the pepper (peperone) and used my favorite varieties of cucumber (cetriolo). I also halved the amount of tomatoes, since I never made the recipe for a party.

pimento peppers (Round of Hungary) / IMG_4917

there is no such a thing as enough peppers (from Small Fruits farm)

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Slow-roasted heirloom tomato gazpacho

Ingredients:

Extra-virgin olive oil in a mister
3 pounds / 1.35 kg ripe heirloom tomatoes, preferably organic or pesticide-free
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 medium sweet red pepper (pimento or other variety)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
10 large basil leaves
1 shallot (1 1/2 ounces / 42 g), chopped
1 small cucumber (lemon or Boothby's blonde), peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon / 15 ml apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

How to slow-roast the tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 250 F / 120 C.

Generously spray with olive oil a 3 qt / 3 l / 13 x 9 x 2 inch / 33 x 23 x 5 cm glass baking dish (no lid necessary).

Wash, core and slice the tomatoes and distribute them evenly in the baking dish.

Bake the tomatoes for 4 hours, stirring a few times.

Take the dish out of the oven, add the salt and stir. (If you don't particularly like tomato skin, you can retrieve the pieces that naturally detach during the baking.)

Let the tomatoes cool and use immediately or store in the refrigerator and use within a couple of days.

How to roast the pepper
For efficiency's sake, you may want to roast a few peppers, use one for the gazpacho and the rest for other recipes⁶.

Preheat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Place the peppers on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or aluminum foil. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the peppers 90 or 180 degrees, depending on their width.

Roast for 15 more minutes, then turn the peppers. Repeat after 10 minutes. Continue roasting until they are ready, i.e., when the skin has turned dark and is detaching in places. (The time depends on the type and size of peppers.) Put the peppers in a lidded container or paper bag to steam, then peel off skin, discard stem and seeds, and the liquid they release. Set aside one to use in the gazpacho and chop it. Set aside the others until ready to use.

How to prepare the gazpacho
Place all the ingredients for the soup in a bowl and toss. Purée with an immersion blender until almost smooth. Add some water, as needed, to make the soup reach the desired consistency. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Serves 4.

Gazpacho is served cold. I prefer it just cool. I also like it dense: the flavor of tomatoes goes right to my head.

The original recipe includes suggestions for garnishes, like chopped tomatoes or cucumbers or scallions. My version is minimalist.

so intense that a little goes a long way
(napkin by La FABBRICA del LINO)

One evening as I was preparing my version of quick parmigiana di melanzane, I ran out of my tomato sauce⁷ and decided to use some of my gazpacho: it worked perfectly!

My only problem is: how will I get my gazpacho fix once heirloom tomato season ends?

This post participate to the blog party organized by the Book Club Cookbook (Twitter – Facebook – Pinterest)

Check out the Soup Swap blog party page

I am contributing my soup also to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen, who is also participating in the Soup Swap blog party.

This is the roundup of the event.

¹ My soup recipes
² The book's page on the publisher's site
³Kathy Gunst's website Instagram account and Soup Swap's Facebook page
⁴ Chronicle Books: Twitter • Facebook • Tumblr • Pinterest • Instagram
⁵ My post with the recipe for Slow-Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes
⁶ My post with the recipe for Roasted Red Pepper and Almond Dip
⁷ One of my posts on handmade past which includes my recipe for Tomato Sauce

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

gazpacho di pomodori semisecchi al forno

or launch the gazpacho di pomodori semisecchi 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 disclosure: I have received the linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). In conjunction with this event I have received a Stainless Steel Ladle and Stainless Steel Slotted Serving Spoon from Zeroll, and ProntoPro™ Diamond Hone® Knife Sharpener from Chef’sChoice. I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting these items on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own. The stainless steel ladle and serving spoon are an elegant addition to my kitchen and table. The knife sharpener is precious: small and easy to use and clean, it's quickly become indispensable.

tomato, soup, heirloom tomato

pasta for all seasons / pasta per ogni stagione

October 9, 2015 | Simona

strascinate with almond-hazelnut pesto

It is a truth universally acknowledged that pasta is a food beloved by many around the world. I like the title Nancy Harmon Jenkins and her daughter Sara Jenkins chose for their newly published cookbook: The Four Seasons of Pasta,¹ as indeed pasta accompanies the evolution of the year, letting itself be dressed with what the land produces and what goes well with the weather.

FTC disclosure: I have received an advanced copy of The Four Seasons of Pasta 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.

The first 50 pages or so of the book are dedicated to the introduction, a presentation of pasta, some of the ingredients used in the recipes, and some techniques and basic preparations. I particularly appreciated the notes on ricotta ("All too often what is offered to us in North America is simply milk that has been coagulated by the addition of vinegar or lemon juice. It may taste good, but it is not really ricotta.") and Parmigiano-Reggiano ("Nancy calls it the Marcello Mastroianni of cheese") but this part of the book is interesting in general and provides useful and actionable information.

The book classifies pasta as northern and southern: "The northern tradition is fresh pasta, pasta fresca... The southern tradition is for dry pasta, pasta secca…" In the Oretta Zanini De Vita's Encyclopedia of Pasta classification is by shape: pasta corta, pasta lunga, strascinati, etc., which is closer to the way I think about pasta. The two perspectives are orthogonal. The geographical perspective is used to distinguish the tradition based on egg dough and that based on eggless dough, which is the protagonist of a good number of my experiments.²

Handmade pasta was a Sunday lunch affair in the house where I grew up. My mother made a four-egg batch of pasta dough first thing in the morning and usually cut it into tagliatelle.³ It was enough for two lunches for the four of us (served as primo, i.e., first course). The other days, we ate dry pasta, always De Cecco, my mother's favorite brand. This is a fairly common situation: "Pasta secca is the backbone of the Italian table and it's the kind of pasta we cook, day in day out… Almost all the recipes in the recipes in this book are about that kind of pasta."

As one would expect from the title, the 120 or so recipes in the cookbook are organized by season, starting with winter. They include some classic dishes, like spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino (which is supposed to be the pasta you can always make, for whoever shows up at your door, even at midnight), bucatini all'amatriciana, spaghetti con le vongole, a number of recipes for ravioli (with fillings like sweet peas or charred eggplant), a couple of recipes for gnocchi (without eggs, as it should be) and many creative takes on the theme of pasta secca.

The Four Seasons of Pasta is a great resource for cooks who may like to try their hand at ravioli every now and then but are mostly interested in expanding the boundaries of their dry pasta repertoire using a variety of ingredients: vegetables, meat, fish, legumes. Some recipes come together quickly, others require a more elaborate preparation. (Some ingredients may not be readily available to everybody.)

toasted almonds and hazulnuts, parmigioano-reggiano, orange zest, pepper flakes / IMG_3889

ingredients to make wintertime almond-hazelnut pesto

The recipe for Fusilli with radicchio di Treviso and walnuts in the winter section caught my eyes, but I could not find any radicchio di Treviso where I am, so I opted for the Wintertime almond-hazelnut pesto, which sounded quite interesting and turned out to be exactly that, with a bold orange flavor (from both juice and zest) I had not previously experienced in a pasta dish. I used less olive oil than called for in the recipe and made a rather dense pesto, then used more pasta cooking water to turn it into a cream. A few tastings allowed me to adjust the ingredients to get the balance of flavors that suited my palate.

My interest in the world of handmade pasta means that in the allocation of time, I choose to give priority to making the pasta versus making the sauce. (As mentioned in an earlier post,⁴ sometimes I don't have a set plan for the dressing and mi arrangio con quello che c'è (I make do with what I have.) In this case, I didn't have to make do, though: I prepared the pesto and used 2 tablespoons of it to dress a batch made with 100 g semolina flour and 50 g water (my standard small batch which yields two portions). I froze the rest for future consumption.

The recipe suggests to use the pesto to dress tagliolini or other long, skinny pasta and I don't disagree, but as I am working on perfecting my technique to make strascinate (Bari-style orecchiette which are not turned inside out on a fingertip, but shaped only using the tip of a knife—more on this in an upcoming post) so I used the pesto to dress a batch of the lovely little ears that came to life on my kneading board.

I am looking forward to having The Four Seasons of Pasta inspire further adventures in dressing my handmade pasta.

¹ The publisher's page dedicated to The Four Seasons of Pasta
² The page on the blog where you can browse the complete collection of handmade pasta shapes, some of them of my own creation.
³ My post on the Sunday lunch of my childhood (on the blog Live like an Italian)
⁴ The earlier post

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

pasta

or launch the pasta audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

pasta, book review

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

vaniglia pura / pure vanilla

January 24, 2013 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Madagascar vanilla beans

The first time I heard the expression “plain vanilla” I had to ask for an explanation of its actual meaning. Taken literally, “plain vanilla” sounded like a combination of two contradictory terms. Vanilla is one of the most intense flavors in nature, and it is all but plain. I learned that the expression comes from the fact that vanilla is the most common flavor of ice cream in this country, a sort of default flavor. By analogy, “plain vanilla” became a synonym for basic, ordinary, “lacking special features or qualities” (as the Webster dictionary specifies).

I had never seen a vanilla bean (baccello di vaniglia) before moving to California. I made its acquaintance when I started making vanilla ice cream (gelato alla vaniglia) at home. I learned to extract as much flavor as possible from the bean, recycling used beans to make vanilla sugar and vanilla salt.

When I opened the book Pure Vanilla, Irresistible Recipes and Essential Techniques by Shauna Sever, I thought I knew a fair amount about vanilla. As it turned out, I had a lot more to learn. In the information-packed Introduction, Sever covers topics like:

how historically we came to know and use vanilla
how the vanilla bean goes from orchid to extract
the varieties (I didn't know that Uganda and India produce vanilla) and their characteristics
the different forms in which it is used.

The chapter ends with a set of frequently asked questions covering topics from bean storage to vanilla extract intensity to growing your own vanilla.

Madagascar vanilla beans

The Madagascar vanilla beans in the photos, purchased from one of the resources listed at the end of the book, are quite flavorful. They are shorter than the ones I get in the bulk section of the local grocery store, so to make my version of vanilla ice cream, I used 3/4 of one bean instead of the usual half. I then scraped the seeds from the remaining piece and used them in the dish portrayed below. Did you know that the seeds are called vanilla caviar (caviale)?

The marvel of vanilla beans is that besides being deeply flavorful, they provide flavor in all their components. In fact, "it's the pod that carries most of the dreamy flavor and fragrance" (page 16).

After devouring the Introduction, I started to look at the recipes. The very first one, Vanilla Bean Bread Pudding (budino di pane), looked perfect. I am not able to share the recipe on the blog, but you can see a photo below. Suffice it to say that it is a great use for my homemade challah. I make a few adjustments to the recipe (I use the present tense, because I have made it already several times). In particular, since challah is already a bit sweet, I use only a small amount of sugar (zucchero), sprinkled on the top. While the recipe makes a large pudding, it is easy to halve it (which is what I do).

a very nice breakfast

Reading Pure Vanilla made me finally try to make vanilla extract (estratto di vaniglia), something I had in my to-do list for some time. The most difficult part of the process was to choose the vodka in which to steep the vanilla beans. I had no idea I would face shelf after shelf of vodka bottles at the store. I chose one that had a nice bottle and no added flavor.

Homemade Vanilla Extract
(reproduced with permission; from page 87, partial reproduction)

And it couldn’t be simpler. All you need is a clean jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid, whole vanilla beans, and a clear neutral-tasting liquor (vodka is my top choice). For an 8-ounce jar, 2 split beans should do, but you can add more if you like. Let the sealed jar sit in a cool, dark place for about 2 months before using. I also add scraped seedpods to the extract jar after I’ve used them in recipes, unless they land in my container of Vanilla Sugar first. As you use the extract, top off the jar with more of the same type of liquor for a nearly never-ending supply.

You can also combine several different varieties of vanilla in one batch of extract, creating your own special blends.

My little jar with vanilla beans steeped in vodka is currently in retirement in a cool, dark place and I won't disturb it for a little longer. Then I'll eagerly try the result and let you know.

Vanilla lovers will find a lot to inspire them to use the "dreamy" spice in its various forms in breakfast dishes, cakes, cookies, candies, custards and drinks. You can get a sense of the recipes covered in the book on this page. By clicking on the link View Interior Spread, you can see the first 15 pages of the book and, in particular, one of my favorite photos, on page 3; the photography is by Leigh Beisch. And on this page, there are four recipes you can try. The recipe cards, though not exact copies of the relevant pages, give an idea of the graphic look of the book, modern and pleasantly elegant. (I particularly like the font chosen for the title of the recipes.)

The book includes instructions on how to prepare vanilla sugar and vanilla fleur de sel, which have been in my kitchen for years. If they are not in yours, I recommend you invite them in.

This is my contribution to edition #367 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 Marta of Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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

vaniglia pura

or launch the vaniglia pura 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 disclosure: I have requested a review copy of the book mentioned in this post from the publisher and received it free of charge. I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for discussing the book on my blog. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

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vanilla bean, vanilla extract

vaniglia pura

baccelli di vaniglia del Madagascar

Non avevo mai visto un baccello di vaniglia prima di trasferirmi in California e imparare a fare il gelato alla vaniglia a casa. Ho imparato che i baccelli usati sono ancora ricchi di sapore e possono essere riciclati per aromatizzare zucchero e sale.

Quando ho aperto il libro Pure Vanilla, Irresistible Recipes and Essential Techniques di Shauna Sever, pensavo di conoscere abbastanza la vaniglia. Ho scoperto di avere molto da imparare. Nell'Introduzione, ricca di informazioni, Sever parla della storia dell'uso della vaniglia, di come si va dalla pianta all'estratto, delle diverse varietà (non sapevo che la vaniglia venisse prodotta anche in Uganda e India) e loro caratteristiche, e delle diverse forme in cui viene usata. Il capitolo si conclude con delle domande frequenti riguardanti argomenti come la conservazione, la potenza dell'estratto e come coltivare la propria pianta di vaniglia.

baccelli di vaniglia del Madagascar

I baccelli di vaniglia del Madagascar delle foto, che ho comprato presso uno dei fornitori citati nelle risorse in fondo al libro, hanno un aroma intenso. Sono più corti di quelli che compro sfusi nel negozio dove faccio la spesa e quindi per per preparare il mio gelato alla vaniglia, ho usato 3/4 di un baccello invece di metà. Poi ho grattato via i semi dal pezzetto rimasto e li ho usati nella ricetta ritratta qui sotto. Lo sapete che i semi contenuti nel baccello vengono chiamati caviale di vaniglia?

La caratteristica meravigliosa della vaniglia è che fornisce il suo caratteristico intenso aroma in tutte le sue componenti. Infatti, la parte più aromatica è il baccello (piuttosto che i semini).

Dopo aver divorato l'Introduzione, ho cominciato a guardare le ricette. La prima, budino di pane alla vaniglia, mi è sembrata perfetta. Non sono in grado di condividere la ricetta sul blog, quindi dovete accontentarvi della foto e delle mie parole. Lo preparo con la mia challah fatta in casa e faccio alcuni aggiustamenti alla ricetta, in particolare, dal momento che la challah è un po' dolce, uso solo un po' di zucchero cosparso sulla superficie (ho usato il tempo presente dal momento che budino l'ho preparato diverse volte). La ricetta è per un budino piuttosto grande, ma è facile da dimezzare (che è quello che faccio io).

un'ottima colazione

Leggere Pure Vanilla mi ha fatto finalmente decidere a fare l'estratto di vaniglia, una cosa che avevo in mente da tempo. La parte più difficile è stata scegliere la vodka nella quale immergere i baccelli. Non mi aspettavo di trovarmi davanti a tanti ripiani pieni di bottiglie di vodka quando sono entrata nel negozio. Ne ho scelta una che mi piaceva per la forma e che contiene vodka senza aromi aggiunti.

Estratto di vaniglia
(riproduzione parziale di pagina 87 con permesso dell'editore; traduzione mia)

E non potrebbe essere più facile. Avete bisogno solo di un vasetto o bottiglia puliti e con un coperchio che chiude bene, e un liquore dal sapore neutro (la vodka è quello che preferisco). Per un vasetto da 240 ml dovrebbero bastare due baccelli tagliati a metà per il lungo, ma se volete potete usarne di più. Fate riposare il vasetto chiuso ermeticamente in un luogo fresco e buio per circa due mesi prima di usare l'estratto. Io aggiungo anche i baccelli dai quali ho rimosso i semi per utilizzarli in qualche ricetta, a meno che non finiscano nel contenitore dello zucchero aromatizzato alla vaniglia. Man mano che usate l'estratto, aggiungete al vasetto lo stesso tipo di liquore, in modo da creare una fornitura quasi infinita.

Potete anche combinare diverse varietà di vaniglia e creare in questo modo il vostro estratto personale.

Il mio vasetto con vodka e baccelli di vaniglia in questo momento si trova in ritiro in un luogo fresco e buio e non lo disturberò ancora per un po'. Poi proverò il risultato e vi farò sapere.

Gli amanti della vaniglia troveranno ampia ispirazione per utilizzare la spezia "da sogno" nelle sue varie forme in piatti per la colazione, torte, pasticcini, dolciumi, creme e bevande. La pagina web del libro (in inglese) è qui. Se cliccate su View Interior Spread, potete vedere le foto delle prime 15 pagine del libro e, in particolare, una delle mie foto preferite, a pagina 3; le foto sono di Leigh Beisch. E su questa pagina trovate quattro ricette da provare (sempre in inglese). Le ricette non sono copie esatte delle pagine rilevanti ma danno un'idea della veste grafica del libro, moderna ed piacevolmente elegante. (Tra le altre cose, mi piace molto il carattere tipografico del titolo delle ricette.)

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 368 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 Martissima di Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

Dichiarazione per l'FTC: ho richiesto alla casa editrice una copia del libro citato e l'ho ricevuta gratuitamente. Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso monetario per parlare del libro nel mio blog. Le opinioni espresse sono le mie.

un’enciclopedia “dolce” / a “sweet” encyclopedia

October 2, 2011 | Simona

Italian biscuits, recipe from "The Cookiepedia" by Stacy Adimando

With a title like The Cookiepedia this book intrigued me all'istante (instantly). Once I had it in my hands, I found a number of things to like about it:

an appealing graphical layout, which includes nice icons and space allocated for notes after each recipe
a binding that allows the book to open flat: I like it when a cookbook stays open on its own without clumsy arrangements
variations for each recipe: variations send the message that it is acceptable to play with a recipe and so they stimulate one's creativity
while it covers traditional cookies like peanut butter, chocolate chip oatmeal raisin, etc., it also contains innovative recipes, like Cornmeal Cookies with Rosemary and savory Salt-and-Pepper Cookies (see below)
it is a nice book not only for adults but also for younger bakers.

A cheerful cookbook

Most important in the list of things I like about the book is that I have made five recipes from the book and they all turned out very well:

Crinkles: a cross between a cookie and a truffle, they are a delight for the chocolate lover (photo on the left page above)
Italian Biscuits (top photo)
Green Tea Cookies (photo below)
Dried-Fruit Cookies
Salt-and-Pepper Cookies (photo on the right)

In all the cases, I halved the quantities and used some whole-wheat flour instead of white flour. In making salt-and-pepper cookies, I used flax meal and water as egg substitute, something that I had been meaning to try for a while: the substitution was fine.

As I write, I have made the Italian biscuits three times and the dried-fruit cookies twice. When I mentioned homemade cookies brought with us during a recent trip, I was referring to those two kinds. And I served the salt-and-pepper cookies with a soup that will be featured soon.

To see the first 16 pages of the book, go to this page and click on the link View interior spread. I have received permission to share one of the recipes I made: Dried-Fruit Cookies [pdf]. These soft morsels can be made with various types of dried fruit or a mix. I had flame raisins from the farmers market and that is what I used. I varied the recipe a bit by loweing the amount of sugar and increasing the amount of dried fruit (the latter move was unintentional, but it worked).

The language corner. The word cookie is actually difficult to translate into Italian and the Italian word biscotto is difficult to translate into English, though the dictionary tells you that their meaning is the same. As I have explained in this post, the difficulty lies in the evolution of the word biscotto in Italian and its adherence to the original meaning in the name of the baked product sold in the US (also featured in The Cookiepedia).

It doesn't help to clarify the matter the fact that it is difficult to find Italian biscotti in US stores and that their consumption is a totally Italian thing. In one of the recipes I tried, Ms Adimando uses the word biscuit in the British English sense, more similar to the Italian biscotto.

As I said, it's complicated. If I were to translate the book into Italian, I would probably title it something like enciclopedia di biscotti e pasticcini.

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

un'enciclopedia "dolce"

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un libro sull’arte bianca / a book on bread baking

February 1, 2011 | Simona

maize bread

Readers of my blog know that I am passionate about baking bread. Friends who come to our house for dinner know that there will be homemade bread (pane fatto in casa) on the table (and homemade ice cream for dessert). Hence, it was with enthusiasm that I answered the offer to review a book on bread baking (the art of making bread is called arte bianca in Italian, literally: white art). The enthusiasm never left me as I explored The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard.

The photo above shows my rendition of one of the recipes in the book: Maize bread (pane di mais), made with polenta and corn flour. My review of the book has just been published on the Daring Kitchen site: follow this link to navigate to the relevant page. Photos of five of the recipes that I realized from the book accompany the review (recensione).

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

un libro sull'arte bianca

or launch the un libro sull'arte bianca 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.]

un libro di ricette per lui (e un premio) / a cookbook for him (and a giveaway)

December 1, 2010 | Simona

As a long time reader of Food Blogga, I am familiar with Susan's style: her posts include always interesting recipes, they are infused with her sense of humor, and are peppered with bits of family life. The sense of humor that I relish on her blog, infuses also the book Recipes Every Man Should Know, which Susan co-authored with Brett Cohen, and which was recently published by Quirk Books (on the web at Irreference.com).

The title of the book clearly defines its intended audience. From the Introduction:

So, why should men cook?
[…]
2. It involves fire, sharp instruments, and meat.

I must admit that I had never thought about the topic from that perspective. Again, from the Introduction:

This little black book is full of the basic recipes and techniques to get you started in the kitchen… We tell you which pots and pans to buy, what's the difference between slicing and dicing, and how many pints are in a quart. (Two.)
[…]
Basically, this book has got your back. Plus, it's small enough to fit into your back pocket…

That is the first characteristic of the book that I noticed, together with the elegant black cover and the overall nice graphic design (see an example in the photo below). I think these are all important elements of a book: they make you want to hold it in your hands, open it and read it, and they contribute to the experience provided by the book contents —which is, of course, important.

After preparing the ground in the sections called Kitchen Tools and Cooking Terms, the authors organized the recipes into the following groups:

Hearthy Breakfast Classics
Sandwiches, Burgers & Snacks
Meat & Potato Dinners
Beer, Bacon & Bar Food
Chocolate, Cheesecake & More

Choosing sample bites from the book is not easy. I like how the authors present three options for cooking fish (panfried, baked and super-healthy) plus three topping suggestions (piccata-style, salsa and California-style) in three pages (83-85). The number three recurs in the section on meat marinades (teriyaki, fresh herb and Cajun), where one learns that a marinade needs an acid and an emulsifier.

A year ago, Susan wrote a piece for NPR's Kitchen Window called Bacon Gets Its Just Desserts. Bacon is featured in several recipes in the book, including Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf, recently presented by Susan on her blog. I was intrigued by the recipe for Greens and Bacon:

Salty, smoky bacon balances the bitterness of greens, making them go down much more easily.

The recipe headnote ends with this quote:

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. — Doug Larson

Some recipes have reassuring titles, like Fool-Proof French Toast, Quick-and-Easy Quesadillas, and some include variations, which allow the target user to expand his repertoire.

The first word that came to my mind after going through the book is simpatico, which means nice, pleasant, agreeable, and also fun. The book sets a goal and delivers to its intended audience based on that goal. It does so efficiently and with a pleasant sense of humor — a fundamental ingredient of life.

Going back to the beginning (i.e., the Introduction) before I end, I agree with another of the reasons given for why men should cook:

4. Home cooking is cheaper than eating out, which means more money for other stuff.

I think that men who follow the instructions and recipes in Recipes Every Man Should Know¹ will also find out that cooking is a pleasant activity: it is divertente (fun).

Another fun thing is to participate in a giveaway. Leave a comment on this post to be included in a random drawing to receive a copy of Recipes Every Man Should Know by Susan Russo and Brett Cohen. The deadline is December 7 and the winner is the 6th person to comment, that is: Sweet Artichoke. Congratulations!

¹The title of the post is not intended to be a translation of the title of the book, which in Italian is: ricette che ogni uomo dovrebbe conoscere.

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

un libro di ricette per lui

or launch the un libro di ricette per lui 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 disclosure: I have received two free copies of the book from the publisher, one of which I am giving away. I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for the review contained in this post.

briciole

Simona Carini serves recipes and Italian words related to food

cookbook review

slow-roasted heirloom tomato gazpacho / gazpacho di pomodori semisecchi al forno

pasta for all seasons / pasta per ogni stagione

vaniglia pura / pure vanilla

vaniglia pura

un libro sull’arte bianca / a book on bread baking

un libro di ricette per lui (e un premio) / a cookbook for him (and a giveaway)