La Cucina Italiana the magazine

La Cucina Italiana, this beautiful series of monthly magazines is undoubtedly the queen mother of magazines when it comes to a real Italian cooking in depth. As soon as I could sort of waddle through the italian writing, I was hooked and now I have been a faithful subscriber for well over 5 years since. It is so much more than a collection of recipes, every edition is filled with interesting reads about cultures behind each regional cooking, monographs on specific/seasonal items, introductions of great chefs and their secrets, gastronomic anecdotes, not to mention hundreds of mouth-watering gorgeous photographs. This month the magazine celebrated its 80 year anniversary, and one of the special features were stupendous collection of cakes specially created and dedicated by their appointed chefs. Here are some examples which will surely make your eyes drool :-)



Naturally the main editions are issued in Italian, however it's popularity has well extended into the international market, and now they are also issued in different languages, notedly in English, in German, in Dutch, and in Czech, each editions stick to the true Italian way as much as possible and keep the "international" modifications to the minimum so as to transcend the spirit of its founder and authenticity, so if you are in a bookshop or newsstand next time, check and see if a copy of "La Cucina Italiana" can be found near you!! There is also a worldwide site in English where you can learn the 101 of Italian food, so have a visit!!

Tagliatelle al cacao with Traminer sauce

I found this highly intriguing recipe on the latest issue of "La Cucina Italiana" and just HAD to try it out immediately. The result did not disappoint, faint touch of cocoa flavour from the pasta matches perfectly with the aroma of Gewurz Traminer, celebrated alpine wine famous for it's fruity refreshing fragrance, accented by speck, another delicacy which represents the alpine region. What's more, the dark chocolate coloured pasta does produce an interesting choreographic effect as well. The key is not to overcook the wine in order to maintain the distinct flavour and aroma!!

Tagliatelle al cacao with Traminer sauce

Ingredients (for 3-4 people)
-for pasta
220g flour (plus more for dusting)
30g unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1tsp extra virgine olive oil
pinch of salt

-for condiment
180g speck*, finely julienned
250g onion, thinly sliced.
60g butter
360ml Gewurz Traminer
Freshly shredded parmigiano reggiano or grana padano
*if Speck is unavailable, try with a well smoked English style bacon

Knead the pasta ingredients thoroughly until the dough becomes elastic and smooth.
Roll out the dough thin, 1-2mm, and cut into strips about 5-6mm wide.
Let the pasta air dry a little, by hanging or on top of a dry clean cloth, lightly dusted.
(for the detail of pasta dough making technique consult this page)

In the meanwhile cook the condiment. Sautè the onion in the butter, when they begin to soften, add the speck and cook a few more minutes. Add the wine and bring it boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 7-8minutes.

Cook the pasta in a generous amount of boiling water, it takes just about a minute from the point the pasta floats up to the surface. Quickly drain the pasta and toss it with the condiment.
Serve with a generous amount of freshly shaved/grated parmigiano or grana padano

Homemade Pancakes

Here is a favourite treat for just about everyone, great for brunch, afternoon tea, late night snack or any time of the day when you feel peckish!! Contrary to the belief of many it doesn't require a special ready made mixture, it is just as simple making it totally from scratch!! While it IS a quick and easy recipe but it may take a bit of practice to get the hang of it, so I tried to explain step by step in detail, please don't be intimidated by the longish entry, the procedure is much simpler than it looks!!

If you can find a self rising flour, that would be the perfect pancake making flour. This type of flour has already a rising agent mixed in so your pancakes will puff up without fail!!

However, if you can't find it in stores don't despair, you can mix about 1,5 tea spoon of baking power into about a cup of regular all purpose flour for the same effect as well.
Make sure though, the baking power is well preserved and well within the expiration date, many people make the mistake of using the poorly preserved "dead" baking powder which surely leads to a disappointing result!!

Ingredients:
1 cup of flour (self rising, or all purpose + 1,5 tsp baking powder)
1 egg
2 tablespoon sugar
milk (preferably at room temperature)
juice of half lemon

Beat together all the ingredients, gradually adding the milk little by little, to bring the texture to a "muddy" consistency (not too dense not too liquid, it will be lighter than the regular cake batter, but not so liquid like the crepe batter)*. it's okay if it is not perfectly smooth and slightly lumpy.
Let the mixture rest for about 10 minutes.
Lightly grease a hotplate or non-stick skillet and heat it.
Give a quick thorough stir to the mixture before start to cook it.
Drop about a ladleful (you can make it as small or as big as you want, but regular pancakes are usually about 10-15cm diametre).
Observe the pancake, after a while the bubbles start forming on the surface. When there are lots of bubbles all over and the edge of the batter start to dry, quickly flip it.
The side comes up should be nicely golden brown (not burnt), if the colour is still too pale, flip it back when the second side is fully cooked.
The other side should take much less time to colour. You can just raise the edge slightly with a spatula to check the colour/doneness.
When the both side is fully cooked, take off from the heat and repeat the procedure. (the first one usually takes the longest, as the hot-plate/skillet heats up more the cooking procedure gets quicker. If you are using a burner you may want to turn down the heat just a little when it starts to cook too quickly)

Enjoy the pancakes with
generous amount of butter plus
-pure maple syrup
-honey
-molasses
-fruit preserve/sauce
-nutella etc. etc.!!

Licia's Quiche Lorrainishe

This is a cross between quiche and Italy's torta rustica (savoury pie), while the recipe is basically inspired by the famous quiche Lorraine, there are a few key modifications I made, so it became "Lorrainish" :-p Possibilities for variations are abound, you can use any cheeses that melt well, or potatoes can be substituted with broccoli, cauliflower or asparagus depending on the season. They are also great for picnic or potluck as they still taste good at room temperature.

Licia's Quiche Lorrainishe

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
150g speck or smoked bacon, shredded thin
1 large potato, chopped into small cubes (a little less than 1cm for quick cooking)
Olive oil
3 eggs
250g ricotta
80g gorgonzola, cubed
100g fontina (or gruyere, emmental or edam), shredded
dash of black pepper
240-300g sheet of puff pastry dough

In a large skillet heat up about 2tbsp of olive oil. Add onion, speck/bacon and potato until onion and potato are cooked through. Transfer the mixture on an absorbent paper and let it cool to the room temperature.

In the meanwhile line a pie form about 28cm diametre with the puff pastry sheet, covering well also the side.
Punch some holes on the bottom surface, cover with a wax paper and pour some dried beans evenly(just to loosely cover the bottom surface in a single layer).
Blind bake the pie shell for about 10 minutes at 200°C, until the edges are lightly browned.
Beat together the eggs and ricotta until well blended. Add the cheeses and the sautèed mixture, season with a dash of black pepper. Mix well.

Remove the beans* and the wax paper from the pie shell, and pour the egg-cheese mixture over the shell. Spread it out evenly.

Put the pie back to the oven and bake another 12-15 minutes, until the surface is nicely golden.

Strawberry Millefoglie (Mille-Feuille)

Strawberry Millefoglie (Mille-feuille)

Using the ready made puff pastry sheets, this is a magical dessert that is very easy to make and looks and tastes absolutely fantastic!! Of course for a variation, you can try other fruit sauces, raspberry, blackberry or peaches also work very well. My recommendation also is to make some extra strawberry sauce, which will be always handy for ice cream, crepes, strawberry shortcakes etc!!

3 ready made puff pastry, about 20-22cm square*
*you can also cut the squares out of unbaked sheets, poke some holes on the surface with the fork and bake at 190-200° until golden brown.
custard (crema pasticcera), about 700ml see recipe at http://muchogustaio.blogspot.com/2009/07/crema-pasticcera-custard.html

strawberry sauce
500g strawberry, fresh or frozen
200g gelling sugar for jam (sugar with pectin added)
juice of 1/2 lemon
powdered gelatin, if needed

Prepare the custard. Let it chill.
Prepare the strawberry sauce, by roughly whipping the strawberries in a mixer, leaving them still a bit chunky. In a sauce pan heat up the strawberries, sugar and the lemon juice together, bring to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes. Stir often. If it is still too liquidy, mix in a tiny bit (half a teaspoonful or less) of powdered gelatin, stir well and let it dissolve and add to the cooking mixture, let it boil for another minute or so. Let it cool down.

Spread the custard generously over a sheet of puff pastry, then cover with another pastry sheet. repeat the procedure with the rest of the custard cream twice. Over the surface (should be the top layer of the custard) generously spread the strawberry sauce.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Oven Roasted Bell Peppers

Oven Roasted Bell Peppers (Sicilia, Lazio)


They are delicious "tapa" by themselves, or an alternative topping for bruschetta. While roasting, do not worry about the burnt patches on the surface, they are just external skins which are to be easily peeled off. Alternatively the peppers can be roasted on a barbeque grill during a cookout, which makes a nice accompaniment to the meal.

4 bell large bell peppers (for choreographic effect, 2 red 2 yellow)
4 garlic cloves
handful of capers
handful of pine nuts
extra virgine olive oil

Cut off the top of the bell peppers, place one garlic clove inside each bell peppers.
Place the bell peppers on a shallow baking dish, roast them in the oven at 180°C for about 30-35 minutes, or until they are full cooked and limp. Turn over the peppers once around 15-20 minutes into cooking.
Take off the peppers and let it cool off, until you can comfortably handle them. They should be still quite warm.
Peel off the external skin of the peppers. (once the peppers cool off too much it becomes more difficult to peel!) Then rip them into several strips.
Take the garlic from the inside of the peppers, mush them up.
Rinse the capers under running water to eliminate the excess salt, then chop it up.
Toss the pepper strips with the mushed up garlic, caper and pine nuts.
Drizzle with good quality extra virgine olive oil, serve at room temperature.

Chick Salad al Avocado

This is no ordinary boring chicken salad, avocado is a wonderful companion of chicken, crispy bacon and toasted cashew adds the nice flavour kick for your sandwich/wrap. Turkey can also be used in place of the chicken, and this will be a fresh idea for the leftover roast during the upcoming holiday season!

Ingredients:

-450g/1lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked* and roughly shredded
(*Grilled, pan fried, boiled in a light broth with a bayleaf, or leftover roast, according to your preference/convenience)
-100g/3,5oz bacon crispily cooked and flaked
-50g cashew, crushed and toasted
-2 big plump ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
-splash of lime juice
-mixture of mayonnaise and sour cream, as needed to coat the ingredients sufficiently, but not to drown them
-dash of black pepper.

combine all the ingredients, coating them with the condiment thoroughly.
Serve chilled or at room temperature, by itself or as a filling for wraps/sandwiches.