Homebaker’s Cookbook: Yogurt bread/ Il Ricettario di Homebaker: Pane allo yogurt

I too often get excited when going shopping fro groceries. Family packs are my thing…usually I stock up on crackers, lupins and one-kilo natural yoghurt jars. Usually the next weeks all sort of unexpected things happen and I find myself with a lot of ingredients coming close to the end of their shelf life. And get in a panic. This is more or less how this loaf, which I now propose for Homebaker’s Cookbook, was born. Fragrant, soft and long-lasting, it was a great discovery given by necessity and total randomness. The great thing is that you can forget about it and leave the dough to rest in the fridge for a few days, in fact your loaf will acquire more flavour!

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Rye Flour Tigelle / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Tigelle con farina di segale

 

Street food is now everywhere on the streets of our cities and at every special event around Ticino. A few years ago when I attended Food Immersion Festival I was impressed by Tigella Bella‘s stand but there was so much to say and eat that I realized I had completely forgot to mention them! The thought of these soft flat breads didn’t leave me but only now I had the idea to reinterpret the original recipe for Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook. The result? Spectacular! Try them as soon as baked. Warm, soft and fragrant they lend themselves beautifully for a brunch in your backyard!

Tigelle

Street food is now everywhere on the streets of our cities and at every special event around Ticino. A few years ago when I attended Food Immersion Festival I was impressed by Tigella Bella‘s stand but there was so much to say and eat that I realized I had completely forgot to mention them! The thought of these soft flat breads didn’t leave me but only now I had the idea to reinterpret the original recipe. The result? Spectacular! Try them as soon as baked. Warm, soft and fragrant they lend themselves beautifully for a brunch in your backyard!

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Pane Carasau / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Pane Carasau

Carasau bread is a typical Sardinian bread, originally from Barbagia and spread throughout Sardinia, also known as the music paper. The Sardinian term comes from the word carasare, which means to toast. During the carasadura the bread is placed in the oven for the final baking which makes the bread crisp. The second name is probably given by its characteristic crunchiness, which makes its chewing quite noisy and…musical. Carasau bread can be eaten with cured meats and cheeses as it is or briefly dipped in water to make it softer. Carasau bread is used for recipes such as pan guttiàu and pan frattau. Nowadays for the Cookbook of Maroggia’s Mill I have decided to make a version that uses a portion of wholewheat flour, which gives this bread a more intense and even slightly sweeter taste.

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Pistachio and Candied Orange Peel Ciabatta / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Ciabatte al pistacchio e scorza d’arancia candita

Ciabatta mon amour. As you well know, I have tried out and made several ciabatta recipes as its such a versatile dough that I never get tired of experimenting. This time around I wanted to make a version for Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook that lends itself beautifully to whip up a quick and delicious bread and chocolate, strictly extra dark, snack. Don’t you agree that pistachios and orange peel are the perfect match to enrich this simple dough? What are you waiting for? Roll up your sleeves!

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Feta, Tropea Red Onion and Sumac Panzerotti / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Panzerotti alla feta, cipolle di Tropea e Sumac

When I was a little girl right before Christmas it was tradition that I, my older sister and my father would go shopping in Milan on a Saturday. A special event, an opportunity for us to spend some time alone with our Daddy, who was often away from home for business matters. On this same Friday, but twenty-eight years ago, I would be counting the money safely stored in my piggy bank, waiting impatiently for the next morning to come. To my eyes Milan was magical place. I recall the bitter cold which would redden our cheeks and noses. The snow would fall slowly, in fine grains that almost did not leave a trace on the sidewalks. And all those lights, bright lights everywhere.

After long walks in the centre of the city and a due visit to Rinascente and Fiorucci where we would usually find little presents for our mom and friends we would happily end our Christmas pilgrimage at a mythical place: Luini. Luini and its warm to piping hot panzerotti, for which we would patiently wait in line, that same line that in the past years split into three to four separate ones in order to greet as much costumers as possible. Panzerotti must be eaten standing up, preferably leaning against a free portion of one of the walls of the buildings along Via Santa Radegonda 16, not to lose crispness of the dough and lava texture of the filling, which for me will always and only ever be tomato and mozzarella.

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Saffron and Chilli Bread Thins / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Sfoglie di pane allo zafferano e peperoncino

Crack, crunch, crock! As I crunch through a bread thin the first thing coming up to my mind is the classic comic balloon words written in a bold uppercase font and the exclamation point, slightly bigger than the character as to give strength to the onomatopoeic sound. To me crunchy foods, especially if they are baked goods, are irresistible. Is it an ancient heritage we carry with us that drives us to go through entire packs of crunchy crisps and crumbly grissini?

After a quick glance at the blog I realized that along all these years I posted few recipes for crackers. Such a gap had to be filled as soon as possible, I thought to myself! It’s thanks to chilli and a brilliant intuition (which I admit was totally random as when opening the “Food Thesaurus” the first ingredient I came across was saffron) I baked these amazing bread thins. Without modesty I can say this recipe is among the best I ever made for the blog when it’s up to crackers and Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook.

These bread thins are quite spicy, so if you do not like spicy food but you still want to feel a slight tingling I recommend to halve the amount of chilli.

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Multigrain Pizza / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Pizza con farina 4 cereali

Pizza, oh my beloved pizza… Anyone who knows me well knows as well how much I love this dough and how hard I worked over the years to get perfect results. The funny thing is that I’m the queen of “neapolitan style” pizza while I can’t get proper results with the dish version.

Macro dumplings for MTC Challenge / Canederli macro per l’MTC Challenge

New year, new challenges. It seems only yesterday that Francesca challenged us with a her literary inspired muffin, but it has been two months now. Enough to relax and forget how the MTC Challenge can put my brain and creativity under enormous pressure. Couple this with my macro lifestyle adventure and you can just imagine how difficult it will be for me from now on…but stubborn as I am the goal this year will be to be able to participate to all of MTC’s challenges by inventing all sorts of macro alternatives to the recipes and ingredients we will be given. Honestly these dumplings were a walk in the park if I consider the risk of running into a dessert recipe, or worse a brioche dough rich in eggs, butter and sugar. But challenges are vital in my life and for my blog(s) too and I am ready to face any recipe, even though I fear many tears will be shed being failure and disappointment just around the corner with macro cooking!

Pao Alentejano

This bread was a nice discovery I made this summer, after meeting Nelson Carvalheiro at the Foodblogger Connect conference in London. On that occasion, during a long chat in front of a pizza at Franco Manca’s, Nelson asked me to be a guest on his blog, with a recipe of Portuguese bread. Needless to say I immediately accepted with enthusiasm. Other commitments and various things came in the way, and we have postponed the project. But now, with the upcoming changes, I decided to post this recipe and another one that will be posted on the blog Friday. Pão Alentejano is a long fermentation bread made with sourdough. It positively struck me for its taste, texture and beautiful crispy crust. Discover with me how to do it at home, it will take some time but it is absolutely worth it!