MTChallenge: Terrine!

Another month, another challenge. Welcome back to the monthly appointment with the MTChallenge. The last challenge was won by Giuliana, our vintage hen which is quite passionate with terrines.I must confess. Terrines scare me, they always did. I don’t like them. Blame it on the gelatin, which remind me of culinary horrors of the 70s which can be found on many pages of my mum’s culinary scrap books. I always considered terrines a too playful and poor of substance dish (forgive me Giuliana!). But MTC is MTC, one simply can’t escape from it. As a matter of fact, the more a subject is far from what I like the most, the more stress it generates and the more excited I feel. More or less. The roughest British sides of me started saying “No cold jellies… can’t you see you finally have the chance to try and bake your own pork pie? You don’t want to lose this opportunity do you?”. HI must come out of the pie closet and my beloved Van Pelt will be shocked, she will… I’ve never ever baked a pork pie in my whole life. I needed MTC to finally bake one! I have to be honest. I had many ideas mainly involving apples, oranges, beetroot and liquorice. Then I had a fennel, lying on its own in my fridge, and decided to flavour the broth with spices and the pig with herbs. No overthinking and simply following my gut.

For a special friend: Flavia Ingalls’ Custard Pie / Per un’amica speciale: Torta alla crema di Flavia Ingalls

This recipe is dedicated to a good friend and amazing photographer, Flavia. I have known her for almost a year now, having had the chance to team up with her for many of our works for Migros’ weekly paper, Azione, and get on very well. When we can we have dinners and movie projections at the studio she shares with some other very talented guys. On the 28th of August she celebrates her birthday and knowing of her unconditional love for “Little house on the prairie” I looked up many website in search of a themed present. Until we stumbled upon a book of Vivian Maier’s works while visiting an exhibition and suddenly changed plans. But something “Little prairie” themed had to be there for her birthday! So I looked on the web for a recipe instead and picked this custard pie. Why I am posting it so late? Well I admit that along the months I had to tweak a little the recipe until coming up with this one, which is simply perfect.

MTChallenge: Licorice Lasagna with Chicken Liver and Leeks / MTChallenge: Lasagna alla liquirizia, fegatini di pollo e porri

Another month and yet another MTChallenge. A tough one. Yes, because this month Sabrina, from Les Madeleines Proust blog, challenged us with a traditional Italian recipe. One of those one might think would be fairly easy to make, after all what’s so difficult about rolling some dough? I bet you already guessed what I am talking about: Lasagna! And we’re talking about the real deal. The sheet of pasta, as instructed by Sabrina, had to be rolled by hand. Yeah, rrrright! May it be my proverbial insecurity, my total inexperience, my well known impatience, or the fact that after 30′ resting the dough was slightly sticky but my lasagna certainly will make history. For its thickness.

My mother’s memories of a posh grocery and cheesecakes: Leicestershire curd tarts / I ricordi di mia madre, tortine al formaggio e un alimentari molto chic: Leicestershire curd tarts

This recipe has been “commissioned” to me by my mother so I am leaving the post to the words she e-mailed to me. The recipe she sent me can be found on this page which has some other Leicestershire recipes on it too. The pastry I chose is a quick “rough” one but proved to be very good, flaky and crisp. You can find it on British Larder, at this page.

Easter Bread: Hot Cross Buns / Pane Pasquale: Hot cross buns

Yet another month and Panissimo is back again. March marked the beginning of the “Easter leavened season”, which is usually known for complex and rich in fat recipes. Usually the time required for testing and improving these recipes is significant.

A late Christmas treat, Gingersnap biscuits by The Garum Factory / Un dolcetto molto natalizio…po’ in ritardo! Biscotti allo zenzero e spezie di The Garum Factory

Last Christmas I was full of good intentions. Many challenges were thrown around the web, themed especially for the festive season and in all good faith were pinned down on my calendar, looking forward to participate. Not only I forgot to bake a bread for Twelve loaves but didn’t participate to a single contest. Blame it on the panettone obsession, on the new part time job, and well…on the festive season! The only recipe that was completed, foreseeing many happy festive baking moments was candied ginger.

Smithy Loaf, or about Twelve Loaves and the pleasure of unfussy baking / Smithy Loaf, o anche di Twelve Loaves e il piacere di una semplice infornata

Keep it simple. This is this month’s Twelve Loaves theme, as beautifully explained by the talented Rossella in her blog Ma che ti sei mangiato?. Simplicity can freeze. Always in search of the elaborated techniques, which require time and effort but reward with breathtaking results and oh so many compliments we forget about the joy of a simple, quick bake. Yes baking can be rewarding with little efforts, using basic ingredients and techniques you can obtain delicious results within one hour sharp.

Merry Belated Christmas and a latecomer recipe: My Mum’s Mincepies / Tardivi Auguri di Natale e una ricetta in differita: I Mincepies di mia Mamma

Merry Belated Christmas! Working in a shop around this time of the year means no time to blog around and unfortunately little baking and cooking too. But I am back, and cannot exempt from leaving one little traditional recipe even though it’s a latecomer.

Christmas is nothing without traditions. I grew up with a weird mix of Father Christmas meets Joan Baez in front of the manger scene. But I guess that’s our tradition.