“Cuochi d’artificio”: Soft, sweet…Asia! / “Cuochi d’artificio”: Soffice, dolce…Oriente!

For this episode of “Cuochi d’artificio” I was given a very specific theme: steam. Not an easy one, especially since I was given the task of developing one or more idea for the long recipe part of the program. My first thought went to Chinese steamed bread, baozi, which I had been thinking of for a long time and planned to develop a sweet recipe soon.

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Black Sesame Seeds, Lemon and Black Pepper Madeleines / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Madeleines al sesamo nero, limone e pepe nero

From the beginning of the year, ie since I started following more or less religiously a macrobiotic diet, I was forced to cut out on all that is sweet or contains sugars and most of the sweeteners on the market. I had to adapt, and started juggling myself between bread sticks, buns, loaves and pizzas recipes to add to Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook trying to keep up both quality and variety. Detox, health, balance of body and mind. All of this is fair, but sometimes a little indulgence is necessary, isn’t it? So I looked back to a recipe for madeleines which I posted long time ago for Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook. As I child I remember my mother buying those sweet treats from time to time, a very much appreciated concession for our mid day snack. She would buy the classic lemon scented ones which I ate usually in a series of three (I’ve always had a soft spot for odd numbers), religiously dunking them in a large cup of cold milk until they were next to falling apart.

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Toasted Wheat Flour and Black Sesame Naan / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Naan alla farina di grano tostata e semi di sesamo neri

Long time no see, flat bread! Thinking of new recipes for the blog I realised that flat bread has been missing for a while (just a quick reminder of what has been posted so far: piadina, reinterpreted in a menu, Turkish pide, a classic white naan, persian lavash and msemmen) and that Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook doesn’t even feature this type of bread. Bad, very bad of me indeed. So I am back to using the wonderful toasted flour of which I wrote about in this post for my rye, toasted flour and thyme crackers. A flour that can be done at home by simply toasting plain flour in a pan, which gives breads, crackers and breadsticks a very particular taste.