Cuochi d’artificio: Buckwheat and Orange Zest Rusks / Cuochi d’artificio: Fette biscottate al grano saraceno e scorza di arancia

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Good habits…what a task! How many of us run like crazy in the morning in order to get ready and get to work fresh and on time…often with an empty stomach? Over the years I too have learned to wake up a little earlier to allow me to sit and have breakfast. And it feels different, it feels good. No mid-morning jitters, enough energy and concentration to face the day at its fullest. The latest episode of Cuochi d’Artificio I have baked for focuses on good habits and breakfast is the subject given to me. And what kind of bread more than rusk screams breakfast? The addition of buckwheat flour and orange zest (but you can flavour the bread otherwise) make of the plain old rusks something worth getting out of bed, don’t you think so? The loaf itself is delicious eaten as a simple sandwich bread but the rusks will keep longer especially if placed in a tin box lined with parchment paper.

“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.

MTChallenge May: Giant Penne with Cherry Tomatoes, Licorice and Orange Toast Crumbles / MTChallenge Maggio: Penne giganti al sugo di pomodorini, liquirizia e pane tostato all’arancia

Another month, another challenge. This month’s MTChallenge Paola Sabino from the blog Fairies’ Kitchen challenged us with a “simple” tomato sauce pasta. Nothing more difficult than an “easy” dish. The challenge lies in being able to enhance the dish in all its components, first of all of course the tomato that should not be overwhelmed by other flavours and blend well with the pasta with its creamy texture. Another considerable detail is the degree of doneness of the pasta (it is known that overcooked pasta in addition to being sticky and unpleasant to taste is difficult to digest) for which Paola specifically requested a photograph that proves the perfect “al dente” cooking. Paola also called for a brief cooking of the sauce, even though not of its individual ingredients, and forbid us the use of onion. She tied our hands a little, something I particularly like when confronted with a challenge. More limitations and more the challenge gets interesting! For my dish I chose to stick to simplicity, but with the eccentric touch which distinguishes my cooking. To enhance the natural sweetness of tomatoes I used licorice powder and orange as pairings and added a bit of crunchiness with toasted bread. The result is very fresh, with notes of orange paving the way first to the tomato, blending with the licorice at the end of the bite. To make my life easier for the photograph of the doneness of the pasta I chose giant penne, although I personally recommend to pair this sauce with linguine.

A Spring Menu / Un menù di primavera

Spring arrived, at last! After a cold and rainy winter pleasant warm days have finally set in and thinner sweaters have replaced wool jumpers which have been stored in boxes for next year’s cold. To welcome spring I decided to dust off the drawer a small collection of recipes I put together last year, for a project that never came to life. The entire collection has been available for a few hours on the blog, then an opportunity made me decide to take it off in a hurry to see whether it was possible to have the work published. In the end, unfortunately, there was no further development but the recipes and photos are so beautiful that I decided to publish them on the blog this year,. I will post two menus a month, for a total of four, until the end of May. Without further ado I start with the first menu, which is composed by four recipes.

MTC Challenge May: Orange flavored Babà with Saffron Cream and Chopped Pistachios / MTC Challenge di Maggio: Babà aromatizzato all’arancia con crema allo zafferano e pistacchi tritati

When I read this month’s MTC Challenge recipe I jumped for joy. Babà! A sweet treat that has always fascinated me, a leavened which is not easily baked at home. In short, a real challenge! I thank Antonietta (not Antonella as I called her wrongly in my excited comment to the post on the official page of MTC Challenge…I do have a problem with names…) from the blog La Trappola Golosa, for throwing such a high standard challenge and especially for providing us with a GOR GE OUS recipe.

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.

What I baked last weekend and a chocolate and orange plumcake / Cosa ho sfornato settimana scorsa e un plumckae al cioccolato e arancia

It has been a long one, last week. Full of appointments, things to do and unexpected events. I have baked and cooked, I’ve wrote posts, I’ve driven my car far and got stuck an a few queues. I got tired but didn’t let go, putting my alarm clock at 2 a.m. in order to bake a panettone I have been given at an evening at the bakery promoted by Migros and sleeping 4-5 hours maximum to bake ciabatte. I found the time to put together a quick pot bread but admit a little cheating with an addition of instant yeast (2 gr) which enabled me to bake a loaf in approx 4 hours avoiding the fridge proofing. And here I am, tired, trying to type up a new post for the blog.