Focaccia al Rosmarino

Roast Breast of Lamb Stuffed with Lemon, Capers and Anchovy

2012-03-14T21:00:00.000Z

This was my first time cooking breast of lamb. This cut of meat is not particularly popular in Italy, which is odd considered that Italians are rather keen on what are generally considered the "poorer" cuts - oxtail, pig trotters, tripe and similar other anxiety-inducing dishes for the more squeamish diners. The main issue with lamb belly is that it has a lot of fat, and not too much meat; therefore, I decided to add the stuffing to bulk it up a little, and slow roast it to allow the fat to melt away. I was really pleased with the results, and it makes for quite a sophisticated looking plate of food, considered its humble origins!

INGREDIENTS (serves 4 people)

One breast of lamb (boned and trimmed of any extra fat and skin)
Two white onions
One large fennel bulb
A glass of white wine
Salt and pepper

For the stuffing

One small white onion
The zest of one lemon
100 gr of fresh breadcrumbs
2 garlic cloves
One tablespoon of capers
Two anchovy fillets
A teaspoon of dried thyme leaves
1 egg

Start by making your stuffing. Roughly dice the onion and garlic and place them in a food processor with the capers, anchovies and a little olive oil. Whizz the ingredients, then put them in a bowl and add the lemon zest, thyme leaves, breadcrumbs and the egg (that you would have lightly beaten first). Work all the ingredients together; season with pepper, but do not add any salt (the anchovies and capers will have plenty in already).

Roll the breast of lamb on a chopping board, and season with salt and pepper. Spread the stuffing evenly on top, then roll it up and secure it with a kitchen string (or with some toothpicks, as I did).

Heat the oven at 200°C and roast your meat for about 20 minutes. During this time, slice your onions and fennel bulb in chunks. After the 20 minutes have gone by, take the meat out of the oven, pour any fat out of the roasting tin and scatter the vegetables at the bottom; then place the meat on top of the vegetables, pour the white wine in the tray and return it to the oven, turning the temperature down to 150°C. Let it cook for one hour.

The vegetables on the bottom of the tray would have soaked up the fatty juices, so they may be a bit too rich to eat; feel free to discard them if you want, their primary purpose was to flavour the meat and keep it moist. Let the roast lamb rest four 15 minutes before carving it in slices. I served it with a tomato and coriander salad, and steamed green beans.

Red Mullet Fillets with Green Vegetables & Prawn Noodles

2012-03-10T22:52:00.002Z

This Asian-inspired dish is what I decided to turn the red mullet fillets I bought today into. I am still exploring my neighbourhood in Brussels, and this afternoon I found out that one of the nearby supermarkets has a decent fish counter. The red mullet fillets reminded me of a dish I always have when I visit Sam's restaurant in Fowey, Cornwall: there, the red mullet is fried in a tempura batter and served with coriander and chilli sauce. I shallow fried my fillets instead, to make the dish less heavy, and accompanied them with noodles, vegetables and prawns tossed in my home made coriander, ginger, garlic and chilli paste.

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

Eight fillets of red mullet (if the fish is small; if it's a medium size, then use four)
A tablespoon of corn flour
Two nests of egg noodles
Ten raw king prawns, shell off
A handful of baby asparagus
A medium courgette
Two spring onions
A handful of mange-touts
A handful of coriander (stalks and leaves)
Two garlic cloves
One medium shallot
A thumb-sized piece of ginger
One red chilli - remove the seeds to reduce the heat, if you so wish. I like it hot! ;-)
Two tablespoons of coconut milk
Sunflower oil
Soy sauce

First of all, put the kettle on to boil: place the noodles in a pan and cover them with boiling water. Simmer them for about four minutes, using a fork to entangle the nests. Drain them using a colander, then plonk them in ice-cold water for a few minutes, to stop them from overcooking. Once again drain them well. Heat a glug of sunflower oil in a wok, or heavy bottomed, non stick frying pan. Trasfer the noodles to the pan, season them with soy sauce and let them fry for about six minutes or until crunchy and caramelized. This will give them a wonderful texture and flavour, that will make all the difference to your dish. Transfer them to a plate and set aside for later.

Prep all your vegetables. Rinse them and pat them dry, then slice the courgette into batons; the spring onions into small, round slices; the asparagus in bite-sized chunks. Next, roughly chop the coriander, ginger (peeled and sliced), shallot, garlic and chilli and put them in a food processor together with two tablespoons of sunflower oil, and two of coconut milk. Whizz them to a paste.

Heat once more your wok/frying pan and gently fry your paste for a couple of minutes, until fragrant and coloured.

Add your sliced vegetables to the pan, season with soy sauce and cook for three-four minutes.

Lastly, tip the prawns into the pan. As soon as they turn pink, add the crunchy noodles and toss them with the vegetables and prawns, until heated through. Pour the contents of the pan in a serving platter and transfer to a pre-heated oven at 180°C, to keep warm while you are cooking the mullet.

Take your mullet fillets and quickly toss them in cornflour. Use the same pan you have cooked the noodles in: add a little more sunflower oil to it (the pan should still be very hot; if not, allow it to heat properly) and place the coated fillets in the pan, skin down. Cook for two/three minutes each side, and serve them without delay, alongside the noodles.

Salt & Pepper Squid with Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce

2012-03-10T22:14:00.000Z

Who doesn't love fried squid? I make mine using cornflour and nothing else (no water or egg) as it makes for a light, non greasy and extra crunchy coating. Season it with salt and pepper first to make each bite one to remember. Served with sweet chilli dipping sauce, it's a match made in heaven.

INGREDIENTS (serves two people as a starter)

Five baby squid, gutted and cleaned
One heaped tablespoon of cornflour
A teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
A teaspoon of sea salt
Sunflower oil for frying
Thai sweet chilli sauce (I use good quality bottled one if I don't have time to make my own, like in this case) for serving

Slice the squid in one cm thick rings, then rinse them and pat them dry (use some kitchen paper to absorb as much water as possible). Season the cornflour with the salt and pepper, then toss the squid rings in the mix until they are completely coated: add a little more cornflour if necessary.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan and deep fry the squid rings for about two/three minutes each side, until golden, hard and crunchy. Fish them out of the hot oil with a slotted spoon and drain them on kitchen paper. Serve them immediately, while nice and hot, on a bed of leaves (I used garlic sprouts) and with the chill dipping sauce on the side.

Honey Glazed Roast Gammon

2012-03-10T17:46:00.000Z

This dish takes a few hours to cook, which makes it more suitable for a Sunday lunch or a week-end dinner; however, even though it requires time, it is not too demanding on the energy or skills front. The honey glaze and studded cloves not only add lashes of flavour but make it shiny, attractive and a real centerpiece when served at the table, too.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6-8 people)

2 Kg gammon (ham), boneless
1 carrot,
1 celery stick
1 leek
1 tsp of peppercorns
4 bay leaves
15 cloves for studding the gammon

Honey glaze

200 gr honey
100 ml water
1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar

Place the gammon in a large pan and cover it with cold water. Add the carrot, celery and leek, peppercorn and bay leaves, and bring to the boil. Let is simmer for about two hours, skimming any impurities that come to the surface. Drain the gammon and place it on a chopping board to cool down for a little while. When cool enough to handle, score the fat in a criss-cross fashion, then stud it with cloves and place it in a roasting tray.

Make the glaze by bringing the honey, water and sherry vinegar to the boil. Pour all over the ham, then put it in a pre-heated oven at 190°C and cook it for 30 minutes, basting the meat with the juices and any glaze that runs in the roasting tin. Leave the ham to rest for 10/15 minutes before carving.

I served mine with roasted potatoes (proper ones, the size of a child's fist!), a green salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a selection of mustards. The ham is delicious eaten cold in sandwiches, too, and it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Spring Vegetable Soup

2012-03-10T17:03:00.001Z

This soup is really simple, but incredibly comforting and tasty. It lets the ingredients speak for themselves and allows their freshness to shine through. The vegetables that best work with this are delicately flavoured baby carrots, fresh peas, cherry tomatoes, leeks, i.e. all the ones you find in spring; hence the name of the dish. They are simmered in chicken stock until al dente (as they need to retain some bite) together with a small format of pasta, then dressed with a little olive oil, parmesan cheese and freshly cracked pepper. Goodness in a bowl.

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

5 baby carrots (or two larger ones), chopped in small pieces
Two handfuls of freshly shelled peas (or you can use frozen ones)
One leek, washed and finely sliced
10 cherry tomatoes
1 stick of celery
1 litre of chicken stock (you can use an organic stock cube to make it)
100 gr of pasta (choose a small format, such as the "Piccolini" Barilla range)
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

You can also use asparagus, courgettes, broad beans or whatever spring vegetables you may have available for this soup. First of all, place your cherry tomatoes in a bowl, pour some boiling water over them until they are completely covered and leave them to rest for three minutes. Drain them, and then peel them: you will find that the skin comes off really easily - this is a little trick that's great to have up your sleeve when it comes to peeling tomatoes.

Cut each cherry tomato in two and place them in a pan, together with the peas, the finely sliced leeks, the chopped carrots and the celery stick (leave the latter whole). Cover your vegetables with the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Let it simmer for 15 minutes, then add the pasta and cook it for another 5 minutes (or the time it says on the packet that it will take to cook the pasta). Fish out and discard the celery stick, then season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide the soup between two dishes, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top, scatter it with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper. Serve immediately.

Crab, Smoked Paprika & Lime Crostini

2011-07-24T19:06:00.000+01:00

This crostino makes a great starter or light lunch, and it is a nice change from the usual mayo-lemon-crab combination. The smoked paprika works perfectly with the "limey" mayo, encasing the crab in a creamy, rich sauce, the whole thing sitting on a bed of crunchy bread and fresh salad leaves.

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

Four heaped tablespoons of fresh, white crab meat
Two heaped tablespoons of mayonnaise
Half a teaspoon of smoked paprika
The juice of half a lime
Two spring onions, finely sliced
A ciabatta bread, cut in half lengthwise and toasted
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt

Mix the crabmeat, mayo, smoked paprika, spring onions and lime juice together; taste and season with salt.

Toast the ciabatta bread, then rub it with a little olive oil and sprinkle it with salt. Season the salad leaves with more oil, salt and a squeeze of lime juice, then arrange them on the toasted bread and spoon the crab mix on top. Boy, if it tastes incredible!

Pennette Pasta with Fresh Crab, Plum Tomatoes & Chilli

2011-07-24T11:49:00.001+01:00

Crab is in season and I found a beautiful specimen on display on the counter at my fishmonger's, having arrived fresh from Devon on the same morning. A tip on crab: if you can, buy a whole one and pick the meat out yourself, as you will end up with infinitely more delicious white meat than if you'd buy a dressed crab. Sure, it involves a little effort, however for only £10 a whole crab gave me a massive bowl of white crabmeat, which generously serves four people.

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

Half of the white crabmeat picked from a 1 Kg crab
200 gr of pennette pasta (the Giuseppe Cocco brand, available in Waitrose, is the real deal. Or you can use De Cecco spaghettini, too)
250 gr of organic, ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
One tablespoon of tomato purée
One large clove of garlic, finely chopped
A large handful of parsely, finely chopped, plus some more for sprinkling on top before serving
A small red chilli, finely chopped
A splash of double cream
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

It's quicker if you buy a crab that's already been cooked, however only do so if you are friends with your fishmonger and can be certain that the crustacean is fresh. Otherwise, buy it alive and boil it (please kill it humanely first! Only plunge it in hot water once you are sure it is dead) and let it cool. Armed with a hammer, a spoon, a fork and a bit of patience, tackle the crab. Place it on a chopping board, crack the shell open and proceed to picking the meat, separating the white meat from the brown meat. Clean up the crab completely: it was killed to feed you, so show respect by using every single part of it (except for the gills, of course).

You will end up with a large quantity of white meat. The shell of the crab can be boiled with a carrot, a stick of celery and a small white onion to make a light fish stock (to be used for risotto, bisque or a sauce to accompany fish), and the brown crabmeat can be mixed to the white one to go in sandwiches or crabcakes.

You are now ready to make the pasta dish. Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and gently fry the parsley, garlic and chilli together. They need to soften, but not brown. Then add the plum tomatoes and turn the heat up, thus making them loose all the excess water. Stir in the tomato purée and season with salt and pepper. You should end up with a thick, reduced sauce. Finally stir in the crabmeat and turn the heat off.

Cook the pennette pasta al dente, drain and reserve a little of the cooking water. Transfer the pasta in the pan where your sauce is and sauté over a high heat for a couple of minutes, adding some starch-rich cooking water to help binding the two. Finally, turn the heat off, add a splash of double cream to give the pasta a glossy, attractive appearance and delicate taste and serve immediately, with a little more fresh parsley sprinkled on top.

Baked Chicken & Aubergine Curry

2011-07-18T18:24:00.002+01:00

This recipe is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Everyday" cookbook. However, the original version did not include vegetables, while I added okra to mine the very first time I made it, and aubergines this time around. I instantly liked the idea of a baked curry dish as it leaves more room on the stove to cook the accompaniments, and the sauce tastes more intense. I advise you to make this a few hours before serving it and to let it rest, so that it develops more flavour; then re-heat in the oven when you are ready to sit down to dinner.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4 people)

2 heaped tsp of cumin seeds
2 heaped tsp of coriander seeds
1 heaped tsp of fennel seeds
2 tsp of ground turmeric
2 tsp of ground fenugreek
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 small green chillies and a large red chilli, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
Sunflower oil
4 chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks), skin on
1 large aubergine, chopped in bite-size pieces
400 gr tin of chopped tomatoes (I like Waitrose Organic, they taste like fresh Italian tomatoes to me!)
400 ml tin of coconut milk
Salt & pepper

Toast the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes, then grind them using a pestle and mortar or spice grinder. Put the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli in a food processor and blitz to a paste. Heat a little oil in an oven-proof pan or casserole, and fry the chicken pieces until they get some colour (turn them over a couple of times to ensure they are evenly browned). Then transfer them to a plate and reserve for later.

Tip off the excess chicken fat from the pan and add a little fresh oil; add the spices to the pan, fry them for a minute, then follow with the onion paste. Let the paste colour but not burn, use a gentle heat for this; you will need to stir it frequently and add a little water if it is sticking.

Next, add the tomatoes and coconut milk to the pan, mixing them well together, followed by the chopped aubergine.

Season with salt and pepper, then snuggle in your chicken pieces. Don't cover them completely with the sauce, otherwise the skin won't crisp up.

Let them cook uncovered for 40 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180°C; then baste the chicken with the sauce until it's covered completely and let it cook for a further 20 minutes. Serve with steamed basmati rice and/or home made naan bread to mop up the lovely sauce.

Tiramisú

2011-07-10T10:45:00.000+01:00

One of the most popular Italian desserts, tiramisú means "pick me up", due to the many energising ingredients that make this pudding. Eggs, sugar, coffee and liqueur will reinvigorate you with a boost of calories and stimulants that would keep you going for a while. Next time you need to power through a studying session or need to prep all night for a work presentation, swap your Redbull with a bowl of tiramisú - there are less chemicals and the taste is a thousand times better ;-)

INGREDIENTS (for 6 people)

250 gr of mascarpone cheese
1 tsp of vanilla extract
3 tbs of Amaretto di Saronno (the traditional recipe uses Marsala, another Italian liquer, but I much more prefer Amaretto!)
400 ml of double cream
2 egg yolks, the freshest you can find (organic or free range)
300 ml of espresso coffee (warm, not scalding hot)
4 tbs of caster sugar
A 175 gr pack of savoiardi biscuits (or the sponge finger biscuits you would use for making trifle)
100 gr of dark chocolate

Whisk the double cream with the sugar in one bowl until it forms soft peaks; in a separate bowl, whisk the mascarpone with the egg yolks, the vanilla extract and the Amaretto. Gently fold in the whipped cream in the mascarpone and egg mixture.

Dip the biscuits in the coffee (they need to be soft but still retain their shape, don't over-soak them) and line the bottom of your serving dish of choice (I normally use a glass, high sided one). Cover them with the mascarpone and cream mixture, then grate some dark chocolate on top.

Repeat with a second layer of biscuits, mascarpone and cream mixture and grated chocolate.

Cover with clingfilm, then leave your dessert to chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving. Because it contains fresh eggs and cream, it does not keep for too long; you can make it the night before and have it for lunch/dinner the following day, however make sure it gets polished completely by your guests. Normally, this is not a problem!

Thai Green Chicken Curry

2011-07-09T22:28:00.001+01:00

It's fragrant, aromatic, hot and totally delicious. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...the Thai green chicken curry! You can of course make it with ready-made bought curry paste, however I am yet to find one that beats the freshly made stuff. True, it takes a trip to the large supermarket or an Asian food shop to buy the necessary ingredients (I must confess I am lucky enough to live near a Thai deli), however once you have them all in front of you, it takes 5 minutes to make the paste. And your kitchen will smell fantastic!

INGREDIENTS (for 2-3 people)

For the curry paste

2 lemongrass stalks (remove the tougher outer leaves)
8 leaves of sweet Thai basil
4 hot green chillies
A thumb-size piece of galangal
2 shallots
Three cloves of garlic
A large handful of coriander (leaves and stalks)
The zest and juice of one lime
2 tsp of coriander seeds
1 tsp of black peppercorns
1 tsp of fish sauce (nam pla)

For the curry (you can use other vegetables if you prefer, e.g. baby corn, mushrooms, peppers etc.)

Two free range/organic chicken breasts (chopped in bite-size pieces)
8 mini aubergines
Some green beans
A large courgette
400 ml of coconut milk
400 ml of chicken stock
1 tbs of fish sauce (nam pla)
8 kaffir lime leaves
About 10 sweet Thai basil leaves (stalks attached)
Groundnut oil

Start by making your curry paste. Roughly chop your ingredients, then put them all in a food processor and whizz to a paste. Add a little groundnut oil if the mixture is too dry and does not blend properly. Then scrape your mixture into a bowl and set aside for later.

Heat a bit of groundnut oil in a cast iron pan and brown the chicken pieces in batches, reserving the cooked chicken in a separate plate. Fry the curry paste for a few minutes in the hot pan (add a little more oil if needed), at gentle heat; then add the chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, vegetables, kaffir lime and sweet basil leaves, and leave it to simmer for 10/15 minutes. Finally add the chicken pieces and let it cook for a further 5 minutes (check that the meat is cooked through).

Let it rest for 10 minutes and fish out the basil and lime leaves prior to dishing the curry out. It is typically served with steamed jasmine rice, however I realised at the last minute that I only had a mixture of basmati and wild rice at home, so I went with that one. Not a bad accompaniment at all, if you want to know :-)

Orecchiette Pasta with Tomatoes, Olives and Rocket

2011-07-09T12:57:00.000+01:00

We could call this the offspring of a peppery bowl of rocket salad and a tomato sauce pasta dish, who met on a warm summer evening and produced this tasty supper :-) There are so few ingredients here, you need the best tomatoes, olives and rocket you can find, as they all have to contribute with intense, bold flavours. I chose orecchiette (a pasta shape typical from the Puglia region in Italy, which translates as "little ears") because their concave conformation is ideal to receive this thick sauce, and keep it in their little pockets, ready to explode in your mouth.

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

80 gr of dry orecchiette
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (I like Waitrose Organic)
1 bag of organic rocket (ready washed in spring water, if not wash it and dry it yourself)
Half a jar of pitted, good quality kalamata olives
Two handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese
A small white onion, finely chopped
One clove of garlic, finely chopped
One tablespoon of parsely, finely chopped
3 leaves of fresh basil
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt

Put a generous glug of olive oil in a non-stick pan and gently fry the onion, garlic and parsley at low heat, until they are soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes and turn the heat on at its maximum setting, then add the olives and the basil leaves. Let the sauce bubble away and reduce until the excess water has evaporated and it has reached a thick, glossy consistency. Turn the heating off, season with salt and pepper, fish out the basil leaves, cover with a lid and leave it to rest.

Cook the orecchiette in plenty of boiling, salted water as per the packet instructions. When ready and still al dente, drain them and reserve a little of the cooking water. Bring the pan with the sauce back on the hob at full heat, and sauté the orecchiette in the sauce, using a few tablespoons of the cooking water to ensure the pasta is nicely coated. Next, add the parmesan and stir thoroughly to melt it and once again evenly coat the orecchiette. Finally, switch off the hob and stir in the rocket, leaving a few leaves aside to garnish your finished dish. You need to do this off the heat as you want the rocket to wilt slightly but still retain some bite, not cook through and become limp.

Serve immediately with some of the fresh rocket on top, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil.

Smoked Eel Paté

2011-07-06T18:36:00.000+01:00

Forget smoked salmon, smoked eel is the daddy! It makes the most incredible, delicately flavoured paté, of an attractive pale pink. I bought mine from London Borough Market, but any fishmonger worth its salt should be able to track it down for you, if you order it in advance. Not the cheapest item on the menu, but this paté is so rich that a little goes a long way, and after all, precious things come in little packages.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 greedy people)

2 pieces of smoked eel
Cream cheese (about 2 heaped tablespoons)
Lemon juice, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, to taste

I know the quantities above are approximate, but you need to be guided by your taste buds when making this paté - mix all the ingredients together, taste, and keep on adding the seasoning until you get it just right. It should be a balance of smokiness from the fish and richness from the cheese cut through by the sharpness of the lemon juice, and made a bit hot by the cracked pepper. Heavenly! So here's how to achieve all this :-)

Get your smoked eel and peel off the skin, which you will find has a rubbery texture and comes off quite easily to reveal the delicate, pink flesh.

Using your hands, tear off chunks of the flesh and thoroughly check for bones, discarding all the ones you find. Then get the "cleaned" chunks of fish in a food processor, and whizz them up with some lemon juice and the cream cheese. The paté should be quite smooth but still have some texture. Now it's time for your tasting! Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to your liking, and a bit more cream cheese if necessary.

Serve with warm wholemeal toast and a dressed green salad for a mind-blowing starter or a luxurious lunch.

Chocolate Cake

2011-07-06T15:58:00.000+01:00

Chocolate cake, i.e. pure pleasure served on a plate. There are many variations out there, but for me it has to be a soft, moist sponge covered in thick, luscious chocolate icing. Only use the best dark chocolate you can find for this; Divine or Green & Blacks never disappoint.

INGREDIENTS (the recipe is Nigella's - who else's?)

For the sponge:

200 gr of plain flour
200 gr caster sugar
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
40 gr of good quality cocoa
175 gr of soft, unsalted butter
2 large eggs (free range or organic)
2 tsp of vanilla extract
150 ml of sour cream

For the icing

75 gr of unsalted butter
175 gr of good quality dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
300 gr of icing sugar
1 tbs of golden syrup
125 ml of sour cream
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature - don't skip this important step. Preheat the oven at 180°C and line a loose-bottom cake tin with baking parchment. Put all the ingredients for the sponge in a bowl, and whisk them all together until you have a thick, creamy mixture. Pour the batter in the baking tin and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the cake.

Let the cake cool completely before icing it. To make the icing, melt the chocolate and butter together at bain marie (i.e. in a bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water - make sure the bowl does not touch the water directly). Let them cool a little, then add the golden syrup, sour cream, vanilla and icing sugar (sieve the latter first to remove any lumps). If your icing is too thick, add a little boling water to loosen it; if on the contrary it is too runny, add more icing sugar to thicken it.

Transfer your sponge on to a serving plate, then cover it with icing - spread it carefully with a spatula to cover the cake evenly, then leave it to set for a couple of hours. You can add sugar flowers or other decorations to it, or leave it unadorned to glisten in all its dark beauty. Cut off a large slice and give it to someone you love (this could very well be yourself :-) ).

Steak with Peppercorn Sauce & French Fries

2011-02-07T16:24:00.000Z

This is such a gastropub classic and one of my all time favourites. Nothing says "special treat" like a medium-rare steak bathed in spicy peppercorn sauce and accompanied by thin, crisp french fries. A glass of wine wouldn't go amiss, either. You know the old saying: "steak and red wine, and you'll be fine". I couldn't agree more! Make sure you use the best meat you can afford. I used rump steak, obtained from a outdoor-reared, organically fed Red Devon cow, hung for four weeks (produced by my boyfriend's mum farm, luckily enough for me!).

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

2 rump steaks (you can of course use fillet, sirloin or any other cut you prefer)
2 large potatoes
1 small shallot
Half a glass of white wine
150 ml of double cream
Half a chicken/beef stock cube (preferably organic)
1 heaped teaspoon of french mustard
1 teaspoon of freshly ground peppercorn
10 whole black/green peppercorns
1 sprig of dried rosemary
Some olive oil for the beef marinade
Some sunflower oil for frying
Salt

My secret for obtaining incredibly crisp french fries is cooking them three times. Not the quickest way to prepare dinner, I know, however this is a special dish that should require your full attention and dedication. In addition, the great thing is that you can cook the potatoes up to the second stage in advance, and then do the final round of frying just before serving them, so it's not all that tricky to pull off if you have guests.

Start by peeling your potatoes and cutting them into thin strips (try to make them all roughly the same size). Wash them well under a running tap to remove all the starch, then plunge them in boiling water for about 2 minutes; drain them well and leave them to dry out completely on a clean tea towel.

Heat some sunflower oil in a suitable (i.e. deep) frying pan, enough so that the fries will be completely submerged when you drop them in. The oil should not be too hot at this second cooking stage; you can test it by dropping one of the fries in. If it comes up on the surface with little bubbles forming gently around it, then the temperature is perfect. Cook the fries in batches, in order not to overcrowd the pan, until cooked through and soft, but still pale - as you can see in the picture below. Drain them from the oil with a slotted spoon and reserve for later.

Now the steak! I recommend you marinade the meat for a couple of hours before cooking it, to intensify the flavour. Do this outside the fridge, so that it can be brought to room temperature, in the meantime; this is important to ensure the steak cooks evenly and it is not stone cold inside, should you wish to serve it rare or medium-rare. For the marinade, simply rub the steak with ground black pepper, olive oil and rosemary.

Get a non-stick pan nice and hot (this is pivotal, if the pan is still cold the steak will not sear, but boil in its juices!) and cook the steak to your liking - in my case, medium-rare. Once it is cooked, transfer it to a warm plate, cover it with tinfoil and leave it to rest while you make the sauce and finish off the fries.

In the same pan you have used to cook the steak, place the shallot, finely chopped, and let it soften at gentle heat. Add a knob of butter if needed, then white wine; the latter should be left to evaporate gently, deglazing the pan from all its sticky, delicious meat juices. Next, add about 100 ml of boiling water and crumble the stock cube in, then let it reduce to a thick gravy. Finally, stir in the double cream, mustard and peppercorns and taste to adjust the seasoning. You should end up with a creamy, thick sauce.

Cover the sauce with a lid and keep warm. Get the sunflower oil nice and hot once again, and plunge your chips in for the third and final round of cooking. Each batch will turn golden and crisp in 60/90 seconds, and most importantly it will stay this way :-)

To serve, transfer your steak to a clean plate: any juices that will have collected in the plate where the steak has rested, please make sure you add to your sauce! Do not commit the sacrilege to waste them ;-). Pour the sauce over the steak and serve any that is left on the side. Add the the french fries, which you would have seasoned with salt and...bon appétit!

Lemon Drizzle Cake

2010-12-21T12:44:00.001Z

A feathery sponge cake, drenched in a glistening, tangy syrup: fairly simple, yet so full of character. These are the words that best describe this cake, in my opinion. The first time I had it was when my boyfriend's mum baked it for me, in the occasion of my birthday. I have been making it ever since, following the recipe she passed on to me, with a little twist: the addition of two tablespoons of lemon curd to the batter, to make it even more lemony! I like using a loaf tin as I enjoy the rectangular, yellow slices that it produces, however you can use a regular round tin if you prefer.

INGREDIENTS

For the sponge

125 gr butter (at room temperature)
175 gr caster sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of one lemon
175 gr of self raising flour
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of lemon curd
A few slices of lemon to decorate it

For the syrup

The juice of one lemon
100 gr of icing sugar

Cream the butter and the sugar together, then add the eggs, the lemon curd and the lemon zest, beating them well. Gently fold in the flour and the salt.

Spoon in to a buttered cake tin (do not worry if the mixture is hard and sits in little mounds on the bottom of the tin, it will even out as it bakes).

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C, for 30 - 40 minutes until golden and firm in the middle. Test it with a skewer: when inserted in the cake, it should come out clean.

Place the icing sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and warm them up gently, until the sugar dissolves completely into a syrup. Drop the lemon slices in with the syrup and let them stew for a couple of minutes. Pierce the cake all over its surface, then drizzle the syrup over it and arrange the lemon slices on top. Leave the cake to soak in the tin until completely cold, then enjoy with a lovely cup of tea.

Venison fillet with Mushroom & Onion Gravy

2010-12-20T14:12:00.009Z

I love game and its rich flavour, which works so well with the root vegetables winter offers to us. This venison fillet was the star of a celebratory pre-Christmas meal for my boyfriend and I. In the midst of the travel disruptions and flight cancellation frenzy that is affecting me directly, I have decided to make the most of my extra time in the UK and at least get a nice meal out of it :-)

INGREDIENTS (serves 2 people)
This recipe has been inspired by Jamie "the living legend" Oliver's 30 minutes meal "quick roast beef fillet". Rest assured that it works a treat with venison, too!;-)

For the meat

Venison fillet (i.e. loin)
5 leaves of fresh sage
A large sprig of rosemary (leaves only)
Black pepper
Olive oil

For the gravy

One red onion, finely sliced
250 gr of chestnut mushrooms, finely sliced
300 ml of chicken stock
Half a glass of red wine
One tablespoon of plain flour

On a clean chopping board, chop the sage and rosemary leaves very finely and scatter them so that they cover the whole surface. Sprinkle with abundant black pepper.

Lightly rub your venison fillet with olive oil, then roll it on to the chopped herbs and cracked pepper, so that its surface is completely coated with the seasoning.

Place a frying pan on the hob and heat it well. It is important that you get it nice and hot otherwise your meat will not sear, it will boil in its own juices. Transfer the fillet in the pan and let it cook for about 4-5 minutes each side (searing the ends for about 2 minutes each). Please bear in mind that the cooking time depends on the size of your fillet and on how rare you like it. I cooked mine pink, as you can see from the first picture, and the one further down below. Once the meat is cooked, transfer it on a tray and wrap it up tightly in foil, in order to let it rest, and give you time to get on with your gravy.

In the same pan where you have cooked the meat, pour a little olive oil and the sliced onion, and let it soften on a gentle heat. When it is nearly done, add the mushrooms and turn the heat on a little, to caramelise the vegetables. Next, pour in the wine and give the alcohol 2-3 minutes to evaporate. Finally, pour in the chicken stock and stir in the flour, and let it bubble away gently until the sauce is reduced.

Slice up your venison fillet and serve it with the gravy poured on top, rosemary roast potatoes and parsnips, and glazed carrots.

Root Vegetable Gratin

2010-12-19T12:49:00.003Z

This is a warming, oozing, comforting dish that casts the vegetables as the leading character, and gives the pancetta that accompanies it the supporting role. Of course you could leave the pancetta out, should you wish to make this a vegetarian dish. However if you do eat meat, I recommend you include the pancetta: this is an example of how you can make a little meat go a long way. I have used potatoes, carrots and parsnips, but you could choose celeriac, turnips, Jerusalem artichokes or any other root vegetable you may like. This gratin is very rich, so while you could serve it as a decadent side dish, it is certainly bold enough to be a main dish in its own right. In that case, accompany it with a mixed leaf salad, or some steamed greens.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

4 large potatoes
4 carrots
4 parsnips
1 white onion
120 gr of diced pancetta
5 fresh sage leaves
A sprig of rosemary
1 handful of Parmesan cheese
2 handfuls of Cheddar cheese
Breadcrumbs
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Peel and cut your vegetables (except for the onion) in chunks, then parboil them for 5/6 minutes. Drain well, then transfer them to a roasting tray. Add the onion, sliced and roughly chopped, and the pancetta cubes. Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped sage and rosemary leaves. Roast them at 200° C until golden and caramelised (for about 30 minutes).

Take the tray out of the oven and cover the vegetables with a layer of cheese. Add a layer of breadcrumbs on top, then drizzle a little olive oil. Repeat with another layer of cheese, breadcrumbs and olive oil. This will form a thick, crunchy, gorgeous cheesy crust that will protect and keep moist the caramelised vegetables underneath.

Lower the oven at 180°C and bake for a further ten minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and golden. Leave it to cool slightly, then serve.

Ricciarelli

2010-12-12T13:30:00.000Z

Ricciarelli are almond and sugar biscuits traditionally eaten around Christmas time, which originate from the city of Siena, in Italy. They are fat and gluten free (although very sugary), with a melt in the mouth consistency and a sweet, lingering scent. They keep well in an airtight container and therefore make lovely presents to give to your friends and family. You can accompany them with an aromatic espresso, or dip them in dessert wine (for instance, Vin Santo).

The following recipe is from Nigella Lawson's book How to be a domestic goddess, one of my favourite baking recipe books!

INGREDIENTS

2 large egg whites
A pinch of salt
225 gr caster sugar
Zest of one lemon
Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of almond essence
300 gr of ready ground almonds
Icing sugar for dusting

Whisk the egg whites and the salt until stiff, with the aid of an electric beater. Then gradually whisk in the sugar until you have a glossy, thick mixture.

Add the lemon zest, vanilla extract, almond essence and ground almonds, then mix to a hard paste.

Line a couple of baking trays with baking parchment. Dust your hand lightly with icing sugar, then shape the paste into small diamonds.

Cover with cling film, then leave to dry in the fridge overnight. The following morning, heat the oven at 140°C and bake each batch for 30 minutes, or until slightly cracked on top. Leave them to cool, the dust with icing sugar and serve.

Naan bread

2010-10-31T12:12:00.017Z

Tuscany certainly offers lovely food, however foreign cuisine is pretty much unknown to the locals. As a result, I had my first Indian meal only when I came to the UK for my undergraduate degree course. The myriad of new flavours, exotic spices and obscure ingredients completely overwhelmed me and I must admit I was thoroughly unimpressed with it. Still, I saw how fond of Indian food the majority of British people are (not to mention the rest of the globe), so a little at the time, I made an effort to sample different dishes and educated myself to recognise the different spices and ingredients. Now, I simply adore Indian food and regularly cook it or have it at restaurants!

One of the dishes I am most passionate about is naan bread. Soft, warm and the ideal tool to scoop up a curry, what's not to like? Last night I decided to have a go at making my own: the verdict is that is surprisingly easy and definitely beats the shop bought naans (which tend to be quite chewy). I have never had a chance to watch anyone making naan bread before, so I followed a recipe by the great Madhur Jaffrey I found on Google.

INGREDIENTS (makes 8 small naans, enough for 4 people)

150ml hand-hot milk
2 tsp caster sugar
2 tsp dried active yeast
450g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus a little extra
150ml natural yoghurt, lightly beaten
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Put the milk, one teaspoon of sugar and the dried yeast in a bowl. Mix them up and leave to rest in a warm place for about 10-15 minutes, until the surface appears all frothy. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Make a well into the centre and pour in the frothy milk and yeast mixture, the rest of the sugar, the oil, egg and yoghurt and mix all the ingredients to form a ball of dough.

Transfer the ball to a clean working surface and knead it for about 10 minutes, until the dough is elastic, smooth and silky to the touch. Cover it with a damp cloth and leave it to rise in a warm place for about one hour. The dough should double in size.

Once the dough has risen, put your oven at its highest setting and heat up your heaviest baking tray. Knock the dough back into shape by kneading it for another 2-3 minutes, then divide it into 8 equally sized balls and flatten them with a rolling pin. They should be about 0.5 cm thick and ideally tear-shaped. Mine look more like bells, I must say! However do not worry too much about the shape, as it is purely aesthetic and will not affect the flavour (however, do get the thickness right).

Place the naans onto the hot baking tray (you will have to do this in batches, depending on how many you can fit in at the time) and bake them for 3 minutes. As soon as they puff up, take them out of the oven or they will turn out too crisp. If you own a separate oven and grill, you can brown them under the grill for 30 seconds. While you are baking the rest of the naans, keep the ready ones wrapped in a clean cloth to keep them soft and warm. Serve them plain or brush them up with clarified butter, garlic and chopped coriander, to accompany your curry of choice. The one in the picture is my lamb and spinach curry.

Spinach & Lamb Curry (Saag Gosht)

2010-10-31T12:12:00.009Z

This Indian curry is thick, spicy, hot and delicious, the perfect dish to warm you up on a cold Autumn Saturday evening. I have adapted the recipe from this month's Olive magazine, adding natural yoghurt, fenugreek seeds, chopped tomatoes and coriander to the original one. I have used lamb neck fillet, which becomes meltingly tender through the slow cooking process, and served it with home-made naan bread.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2, with leftovers)

450 gr lamb neck fillet
A 2 cm piece of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
2 white onions, finely sliced
1 green chilli, chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp tomato purée
100 gr spinach
400 gr chopped tinned tomatoes
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
Salt
Vegetable oil

Get a cast iron casserole and warm it up over a moderate heat, adding two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Peel and chop the garlic and ginger, then whizz them to a paste in a food processor. Gently cook the sliced onions, chopped chilli and garlic & ginger paste until soft, adding a bit of water if the ingredients tend to stick to the pan.

Next, add all the spices in, mix them well so that they coat the vegetables and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

It's time to add the lamb fillet, cut into equally sized chunks. Turn the heat up and stirring often to prevent any of the ingredients from sticking to the pan and burning, brown the lamb and the onions.

Pour in the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and half a glass of water to the pan, give it another stir, add a pinch of salt and let it cook (lid on) over a gentle heat for about one hour. The sauce will reduce significantly and will loose all the wateriness. At this point, turn the heat off the pan and stir the spinach in, folding them in with the sauce until they wilt. When ready, taste the curry and add more salt if necessary. When you are happy with the seasoning, stir in a tablespoon of natural yogurt to add creaminess and sprinkle the chopped, fresh coriander leaves on top. Serve with naan bread or pilau/boiled rice.

Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb

2010-10-30T23:37:00.001+01:00

My boyfriend's mum owns a farm and breeds cows, sheep and pigs. The animals live a very happy life, roaming outdoors all day, grazing the green grass of the Somerset hills and if they have any hard feed, it is always organic. We recently bought half a lamb and about 12 Kg of beef. May I just say, I am so glad we own a massive freezer! We are now stocked up for the winter and it's such a brilliant feeling to know we have access to so many different cuts of meat, each one waiting to be honoured with the way of cooking that suits it best - braising, roasting, frying, stewing. This is how I have decided to celebrate the leg of lamb.
INGREDIENTS (for 6 people)

A 2 Kg leg of lamb on the bone
8 fat cloves of garlic + 1 whole garlic head
Three handfuls of chopped parsley
A large glass of dry white wine
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Bring your meat to room temperature. Begin by stabbing the meat evenly all over the surface with a long, thin, sharp knife (you should make 16 holes). Cut each clove of garlic in two and stuff them in each one of the holes you created. This will allow the garlic flavour to really penetrate and infuse the meat.

Next, rub the joint with olive oil, salt, pepper and the parsley. I know it looks like a heck of a lot of parsley! However it will wilt down during the slow roasting process, trust me :-)

Now heat up a cast-iron casserole on a medium heat and pop the meat in. Leave it to cook for about 4 minutes each side, until nice and browned. This process allows the outside area of the meat to crisp up and significantly improves the final result in terms of flavour.

Your joint is now ready to be roasted. Cut the garlic head horizontally and transfer the lamb to a deep roasting tray, placing half of the garlic head underneath the lamb and the other half right next to it.

Pour in the white wine and cover it tightly with foil. Place it in a pre-heated oven at 150°C and cook it for 5 and 1/2 hours, checking it every hour to ensure that the liquid has not evaporated completely, and adding in a little more white wine or water if that is the case. The finished dish will be incredibly moist, garlicky lamb and the meat will fall right off the bone. I have served mine with roast potatoes and peas stewed with onion and pancetta.

Beef Stew

2010-10-10T18:34:00.003+01:00

Here's my first stew of the season. So easy to make, yet so rewarding. Don't be put off by the long cooking time stews usually require; it's simply a matter of putting all the ingredients together in a casserole, then pop the latter in the oven and forget about it until it's time to take it out. I went out for a long walk in the park, with a stopover to the shops, while mine was cooking. Upon my return, I was welcomed home by the most hearty, rich scent, announcing that my dinner was waiting for me. Another strong point in favour of stews is that their flavour develops with time, and they taste even better the following day. So make too much, to ensure you have leftovers to enjoy the following day!

INGREDIENTS (for four people)

500 gr stewing beef
280 gr baby onions, whole (or you can use normal onions, in that case cut them into chunks)
4 carrots
2 celery stalks
250 ml beef stock (I had some I had previously made in the freezer, but you can use good quality ready-made stock)
1 glass of red wine
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
A handful of dried porcini
Three bay leaves
Some plain flour
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

First of all, prep all your vegetables. Peel and cut the carrots into chunks, dice the celery stalks, peel the baby onions and leave them whole. As mentioned, normal onions are also suitable, however the baby ones taste particularly sweet and look very attractive on the plate. Although I must say, I cried more peeling these little fellas than when I watched Schindler's list!

The next step is to heat up a casserole on the hob, over a medium heat, with a little olive oil; then lightly coat each chunk of meat in flour and fry them for a couple of minutes each side, in order to brown their surface. This process allows you to infuse the meat with more flavour than if you'd simply "boil" it in the sauce. In additions, the flour helps thicken the gravy. Do this in batches, placing the browned meat in a bowl on the side.

As soon as your meat is ready, add the vegetables to the casserole; the moisture they will release will help deglazing the meaty bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the chunks of beef and the wine, and let the alcohol evaporate for a couple of minutes. Then in go the stock, tinned tomatoes, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Slowly bring the stew to a slow simmer. While you are doing this, soak the dried porcini in boiling water for three minutes, then snip them in the pan. They will eventually dissolve completely, enriching the gravy with a deep, earthy flavour.

Cover the casserole with its lid and place it on the bottom shelf of the pre-heated oven at 150°C, for three and a half hours. Leave it to rest in a warm place for at least 30 minutes, then serve it with mashed potatoes or crusty bread to mop up the thick juices.

Apple & Almond Crumble

2010-10-09T18:41:00.000+01:00

This is an autumnal, comforting pudding which lacks the sense of guilt you may be left with after scoffing a sugar loaded, dairy-heavy dessert, as it is mainly constituted by fruit. Or at least this is what I like to tell myself. I served this with a dollop of Yeo Valley's Apple Flapjack yoghurt, to remain on the virtuous side; however double cream or vanilla ice-cream would not be out of place here, either.

INGREDIENTS

7 medium cooking apples (I used the ones picked in my boyfriend's mum's garden, I am not sure what the variety was, I must admit)
2 tablespoons of muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

For the crumble:

120 gr plain flour
4 tablespoons of ground almonds
80 gr butter
4 tablespoons of muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
A handful of flaked almonds

Peel and core your apples, then cut them in large chunks. Stew them in a pan at a gentle heat together with the sugar and cinnamon, adding a little water if necessary, until soft.

Transfer the stewed apples in a deep, pyrex baking tray.

Pre-heat the oven at 180°C. For your topping: sieve the flour into a mixing bowl, then add the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon and butter (which should be in the form of small cubes and at room temperature). Using your fingers, pinch the mixture in order to form small crumbs, then pour them all over the apples and top with flaked almonds.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until your crumble topping is golden and crunchy, and the apples are bubbling underneath. Leave it to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Breakfast Patties

2010-10-09T18:09:00.001+01:00

I got the idea for this recipe from one published by Nigel Slater in the Observer Food Monthly a few months ago; however because I couldn't remember exactly all the ingredients he had listed and the quantities, I created my own version. Patties are great to make even by inexperienced cooks as they are pretty much impossible to get wrong. In addition, they are suitable to feed a large quantity of people even if you are short of time, as you can prepare the mix the evening before and simply fry them the following morning. I accompanied mine with roasted cherry tomatoes and sautéed garlic mushrooms, but you can of course use eggs, toast, beans, or even serve them as a main dish alongside a green salad for a quick and tasty mid-week dinner.

INGREDIENTS (makes about 6/7 patties)

3 rashers of smoked bacon
3 Toulouse sausage (or any other variety you may like)
Half a finely chopped white onion
One clove of garlic, crushed
One tablespoon of tomato purée
One tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
Two pinches of thyme leaves (fresh or dried)
A handful of parsely
One egg (free range or organic)

Note: as always, and for any other recipe in this blog, I encourage you to use the best ingredients you can find. That means free range, organic, fresh, local produce.

Chop the bacon very finely (I used a food processor) and place it in a bowl.

Peel the skin off the sausages and mix them up with the bacon. Add the rest of the ingredients and work the mixture with your hands, until all of the components are well incorporated.

If you have time, cover the mixture with clingfilm and leave it to chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes, or overnight if you can. If your tummy is rumbling and you can't wait to tuck in to your lovely breakfast, then this step is not necessary.

Pre-heat the oven at 150°C. Place a non-stick pan on the hob over a medium heat, and drizzle in a little olive oil. Using your hands, shape some fat patties from the mixture and fry them gently for 3-4 minutes each side, until they get a bit of colour. Then transfer them to a baking tray and pop them in the oven to cook through completely, for about 25/35 minutes.

When they are nicely browned, with delicious, gooey sticky bits covering their surface, place them on a warm plate together with your accompaniments of choice and serve them right away. A breakfast fit for a King...or a Queen!

Lemon Cupcakes

2010-09-19T12:39:00.002+01:00

I made these for a friend's birthday party yesterday. I followed the recipe from the Hummingbird bakery cookbook, however introducing a few changes of my own (i.e. I put less sugar in the sponge mix, to balance the sweetness of the icing; and included lemon juice in the latter, to make it more tangy). I also left out the yellow food colouring for the icing and chose use blue sugar flowers and purple edible glitters as decorations.

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 cupcakes)

For the sponge

120 gr plain flour
100 gr caster sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 tablespoons of grated lemon zest
40 gr unsalted butter at room temperature
120 ml whole milk
1 egg

For the lemon icing

250 gr icing sugar, sifted
80 gr usalted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest
25 ml whole milk
the juice of half a lemon

Preheat the oven at 170°C. Beat or whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and butter together until they reach a sandy consistency.

Beat in the egg then gradually pour in the milk, until the igredients are all well incorporated. Do not overmix.

Place 12 cupcake cases in a muffin tray and spoon the mixture in. Bake them for 20/25 minutes or until a skewer comes clean when inserted in the centre of the cupcakes. Let them cool a little in the muffin tray, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the lemon icing, beat together the icing sugar and butter, then add the milk, the lemon zest and lemon juice - continue beating for about 5 minutes, until the icing is light and fluffy.

Spread the icing on the cupcakes, then decorate them as you like (I sprinkled them with edible glitters first, then topped them with a sugar flower).

Garlic & Parsley Steak with Tempura Vegetables

2010-09-05T14:51:00.001+01:00

The peculiarity of this steak is that it is marinated after being cooked, not the other way round. As a result, the flavours of the marinade stay very fresh. The vegetables that accompany it are cooked in a pastella, which is an Italian light beer batter which can be loosely translated a 'tempura' (although this recipe is not the same as for the Thai dish). They are extremely addictive and an original alternative to the usual chips.
INGREDIENTS (for two people)

2 sirloin steaks
A handful of freshly chopped parsley
A fat clove of garlic
The juice of half a lemon
Three tbs of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Half an aubergine
One courgette
One small red onion
4 small new potatoes
5 chestnut mushrooms
4 courgette flowers (if you can find them)
Self raising flour
A can of lager
Sunflower oil for deep fat frying

Note: the vegetables listed above are those I have used this time, however you can of course choose whatever takes your fancy. If using vegetables with a tough stalk such as cauliflower, broccoli etc. I suggest you parboil them for a few minutes first.

The timings are essential for putting this recipe together, as you need to allow time for the steak to rest and soak up the marinade after cooking; on the other hand, the vegetables will have to be served as soon as they are ready, otherwise they will go soggy. Therefore, I recommend you stick to following the steps below.

Prep your vegetables by washing, drying and slicing them up in bite-sized pieces. If using them, keep the courgette flowers whole. Try to cut each vegetable in pieces all of a similar size to each other, so that their cooking time will be the same.

Next, move on to the marinade. Finely chop the garlic clove and mix it to the olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Stir in the chopped parsley and reserve for later.

Prepare the pastella (tempura-like batter). I did not write down exact quantities for it, as this is what I normally do: I pour about a half a can of beer in a bowl, then add half a tablespoon of flour, and stir. I then keep on stirring and adding a little bit of flour at the time; when the batter acquires the consistency of double cream, it is ready. This is why it will need to coat the vegetables and cling to them, and if it is too watery it simply will not do that.

Now you are ready to start the cooking. Heat a griddle pan until nice and hot. Brush your steak with a little olive oil, so that it does not stick to the pan, and cook it to your liking (rare, medium rare or well done. I cooked mine medium rare). As soon as they are cooked, transfer them on a plate, brush them all up with the marinade, and cover with kitchen foil in order to keep them warm. They will need to rest for 6-7 minutes, which is enough time to allow you to fry your vegetables.

While the steak was cooking, you would have heated up a pan suitable for deep fat frying with abundant sunflower oil. By the time the steak is put on the side to rest, the oil should be hot enough (you can check this by dropping a small piece of potato in the pan; if it comes floating to the surface, then you are ready to go). One by one, coat the vegetable morsels in the pastella and transfer them to the pan; let them cook until golden, lift them out of the oil with a slotted spoon and put them on a plate.

As soon as all the vegetables are done, sprinkle them with salt and serve alongside the juicy steak. Buon appetito!

Warm Goat's Cheese, Black Truffle and Walnut Salad

2010-08-29T17:32:00.000+01:00

This is a lovely, easy-peasy starter that carries a whiff of Autumn. I appreciate truffle is quite expensive and not that easy to get hold of, so if you don't have any you can substitute it with truffle-infused oil or leave it out altogether, and use walnut oil for the dressing instead.

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

A bag of mixed salad leaves (preferably organic)
Two slices of farmhouse bread
One small goat's cheese
A handful of chopped walnuts
A few shavings of black truffle
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Salt

Dress the salad leaves with the olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt. Make sure they are evenly coated, then arrange them on two plates, with a generous scatter of chopped walnuts on top.

Lightly toast the bread slices, then place them on a baking tray with half of the goat's cheese on top of each slice (rind side up). Place them under a hot grill for 3-4 minutes, or until the goat's cheese is soft and oozing but still retains its shape.

Garnish each goat's cheese piece with a walnut's half, drizzle with olive oil, scatter with a few black truffle's shavings and serve immediately, while still warm.

Chocolate & Amaretto Torte

2010-08-29T16:47:00.000+01:00

The idea for this torte sprung from the need to create a pudding for my boyfriend's birthday dinner. Two of his favourite ingredients are chocolate and amaretto, and he loves chilled desserts. Therefore, I have included amaretto both in the form of liqueur and biscuits, and used an equal amount of dark and milk chocolate mixed with mascarpone to make a smooth filling. The result is an incredibly rich, indulgent pudding. Probably suitable to be a birthday dessert, as you should only be allowed to consume this amount of calories once a year!

INGREDIENTS

150 gr amaretti biscuits
100 gr milk chocolate
100 gr of dark chocolate
80 gr unsalted butter
150 ml of double cream
30 ml amaretto liqueur
250 gr mascarpone
50 gr sugar

Note: buy the best chocolate you can afford! I used Green & Black's.

Wrap the biscuit in a clean tea towel and crash them with a rolling pin. Melt the butter and mix it with the crushed biscuits in a bowl.

Using the back of a spoon, spread the crushed biscuits and butter mix to the bottom of a cheesecake tin (even if it is not stick, I recommend lining it with baking parchment first). Then cover it with cling film and chill it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Melt the chocolate at bain marie (i.e. in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water) and let it cool slightly. Whip the double cream together with the sugar, until it forms soft peaks. Gently beat in the mascarpone and the amaretto. Finally, incorporate the melted chocolate to the cream, mascarpone and amaretto mix.

Pour the chocolate filling on to the chilled biscuit base, spreading it evenly with a spatula. Cover with cling film and return to the fridge to set for at least 3-4 hours.

Focaccia al Rosmarino (Rosemary Focaccia)

2010-08-25T19:41:00.001+01:00

This is the recipe that lends its name to my blog. Why, you will ask (and even if you don't, I will tell you anyways). Because I think it sums up the kind of cooking I like. From scratch, as there are no shortcuts for making a good focaccia. Simple, like the few ingredients it is made from. Passionate, as it is only passion that would have you decide to dedicate a few hours to the kneading, patiently waiting for the dough to rise and the the baking. Soothing and comforting, like the lovely smell of warm bread and rosemary that spreads around the house when I bake my focaccia. And finally, satisfying, like the feeling I get when I see the happy faces of my family and friends tucking in.
INGREDIENTS
As you need to make a pizza dough first, please see the list of ingredients and instructions in my pizza post. This amount of ingredients will produce 5 or 6 focaccias, so if you want to make less, simply reduce the amount of the ingredients in proportion. I recommend you use at least 500 gr of flour though, in order to make the effort worthwhile! You can always freeze any leftover focaccias, then defrost and warm them up slightly in the oven before you serving them.

Once you have your risen pizza dough ready, take some (approximately the size of two fists) and 'knock it back' by kneading it for a couple of minutes. While kneading it, fold in a good pinch of dried rosemary and a generous glug of olive oil.

Shape your focaccia like a large, oval bread roll and using a rolling pin, flatten it slightly. Cover it with a damp, clean cloth and let it rise again for about 15 minutes. When this time has passed, create a few dimples all over the focaccia's surface using your fingertips, then drizzle it generously with extra-virgin olive oil and scatter it with Maldon sea salt and fresh rosemary leaves.

Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes, or until golden and still reasonably soft (you don't want to overcook it otherwise it'll have a dry, biscuit-like consistency). A tip to test if it is cooked through: tap its bottom lightly with your finger. If it makes a hollow sound, it means it is. Drizzle it with some more olive oil and serve it while still warm, alongside cheese, cured meats, olives, soup or whatever else you may fancy.

Pizza (Grilled Aubergines & Speck; Margherita)

2010-08-21T23:29:00.001+01:00

There's no need for introduction, for pizza! What more can I say, except that it is one of the dishes that allows you to be the most creative. You can use pretty much whatever tickles your fancy in terms of toppings, and you can make your base thin, doughy, crunchy or soft. I am not a purist when it comes to pizza; just experiment with flavours and find the recipe that works for your taste buds. Here's mine!

INGREDIENTS (makes about 5-6 large pizzas)

600 gr of strong white bread flour
100 gr semolina flour
1 and 1/2 tsps of dried yeast
A pinch of salt
A pinch of sugar
Lukewarm water

Place the flours in a bowl and mix them together. Make a well in the centre and put in the yeast, salt and sugar. Add a little lukewarm water and using a fork, incorporate the flour to the water, to form a dough. Keep on doing this, adding a bit of water and stirring with the fork, until all the flour has been incorporated in the dough, which eventually should be solid enough to be taken out of the bowl and kneaded on a surface (previously dusted with flour). If it's too wet, just add a bit more flour; if it's too tough, pour in a splash of water.

Knead the dough for at least 10 - 15 minutes, folding it on itself, until you end up with a smooth and elastic consistency.

Place it back in the bowl (dust it with more flour with necessary), cover it with a clean, damp cloth and leave it to rise somewhere warm for at least a couple of hours. If you have done your kneading well, it will double in size!

Now pre-heat your oven at 220°C. Take a bit of the risen dough and 'knock it back' by kneading it again for a couple of minutes. Then using a rolling pin, flatten it, making it as thin or thick as you like, it's up to you. Just bear in mind that, of course, the thicker you make it, the longer it'll take to cook and the more bread-like consistency it will acquire. I personally prefer mine quite thin (but not nearly see-through, as you get it sometimes in restaurants when they are trying to skimp on the dough!).

Now, spread the tomato sauce on your base. I make mine with organic passata or tinned, chopped tomatoes, which I dress with olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Then add the other toppings, minus the mozzarella (which you can add one minute before taking your cooked pizza out of the oven). My oven is very powerful and each pizza takes about 7-10 minutes to cook, however I have happened to use ovens in the past which took even 20 minutes to cook one pizza. So keep an eye on yours to figure out the right timings.

This evening, I used the following toppings for my pizzas: tomato, mozzarella, grilled aubergines (I grilled them myself, then marinated them in garlic, olive oil and oregano) and speck (a sort of smoked prosciutto from the North of Italy) for the first one; and tomato, capers, fresh basil and mozzarella for the second one.

Finally, if you have any leftover dough, remember that it freezes beautifully, and you can use it to make fresh pizza for your mid-week supper. What a treat!

Crostini with Fresh Porcini Mushrooms (Ceps)

2010-08-19T21:19:00.001+01:00

We hereby conclude this Tuscan trilogy with a real jewel: fresh Porcini mushrooms, also known in the UK as "ceps". At least once in your lifetime, you have to try this exquisite, umami-drenched delicacy. When fresh, they have a woody, rainy smell: close your eyes and you'll think you are in a dark, cool chestnut-tree wood in the Tuscan mountains. Total bliss! One mouthful will suffice for you to realise why they are so expensive. I happen to be lucky enough to have an uncle (my zio Nedo) who has been picking Porcini since he was a little child. He knows the woods surrounding his house like his own pockets, and when it rains, he gets up bright and early in the morning (read 5:00 am), then sweeps the woods and comes back home with something like 30 Kg of porcini. I kid you not! One really cool thing he does is, he never uses plastic bags when picking mushrooms; he always carries them in a wicker basket, so that the spores can fall out as he walks across the wood and new Porcini are soon born, making the supply endless and the foraging sustainable. This recipe is my mum's.

INGREDIENTS (makes about 10 crostini)

6-7 large fresh Porcini mushrooms (cleaned from the soil with a moist cloth, the stalks trimmed)
2 cloves of garlic
Extra-virgin olive oil
A handful of chopped, fresh parsley
Half a glass of dry white wine
Salt and pepper

First of all, a few pictures to give you an idea of the beauty of these mushrooms.

OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH..............

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.........

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.........

OK, enough with the gushing!

Chop the mushrooms in fine slices (stalks included). Use a sharp knife, to avoid breaking the fragile fresh porcini.

Chop the garlic cloves very finely, and cook them at a low heat with the chopped parsley in a good glug of olive oil. Add the mushrooms, turn up the heat, pour in the white wine and cook them for just two minutes, or until wilted. Do not overcook them!Season with salt then pepper, then cover with a lid to keep warm.

Toast 10 slices of good quality bread (I used a sesame seed loaf) under the grill, then spoon the warm mushrooms on top. Serve immediately.

Italian Tomato Soup

2010-08-19T19:57:00.003+01:00

For the second recipe of my "Tuscan Culinary Deeds" series, I present you with a soup that is essentially summer in a bowl. In Italy, tomatoes are plentiful, ruby-red, juicy and not last but not least dirt cheap in the Summer; therefore, making this soup as a first course offers a nice alternative from the usual pasta al pomodoro (with tomato sauce). Once again the recipe is my dad's, who learnt it from my nonna (his mum).

INGREDIENTS (serves 4 people)

6 large, ripe tomatoes (I used the Costoluto Fiorentino variety, but the S. Marzano is also great. If you use the latter, you'll need around 12)
160 gr of pasta suitable for soup (e.g. the "Tempestine" viariety from De Cecco, which is also available in the UK)
1 large potato
One sweet, red onion
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Grated Parmesan to serve

Take your onion and chop it finely, then put it in a deep pan with a glug of olive oil and let is soften at very low heat, and acquire a translucent, golden colour.

Wash the tomatoes well, then boil them in hot water (use enough to cover them) for about 5-6 minutes, or until soft but still retaining their shape.

When the tomatoes are cooked, pass them through a mouli-légumes directly into the pan with the onions. Discard the tomatoes' skin. If you don't own such tool you can peel the tomates by hand (this operations should be quite simple now that they are cooked) and whizz the flesh and juices in a normal food blender, then add it to the pan. Season with salt.

Add 5-6 ladelfuls of the tomatoes' cooking liquid to the blended tomatoes, or enough to make up the quantities of a soup for 4 people. Let it simmer at very low heat. In the meantime, peel and dice your potato and add it to the soup. When the potato is nearly cooked, add the pasta to the soup and cook it according to the packet instructions. Add more hot water if needed, however bear in mind that the soup should have a thick, creamy consistency.

As soon as the pasta is cooked, adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve it immediately, with a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan.

Cecina (Chickpea Flatbread)

2010-08-17T19:34:00.002+01:00

I am back from a 2 weeks holiday in the beautiful Tuscan countryside, where my family lives and where I was born and grew up. There are so many lovely things to eat there, I won't even attempt to make a list! Therefore, I am going to post a few recipes of what I have been cooking, just to give you an idea :-) This first one is a traditional dish only known within the Pisa/Livorno area, called "cecina". It is a sort of flatbread made with chickpea flour; it sounds peculiar, but it is incredibly flavoursome. The end result should be quite soft and moist inside, with a golden, crunchy crust on top; it can be eaten on its own, with just a sprinkle of ground black pepper, or as a filling for a focaccia bread roll (as shown in the other pictures in the post). Yes, bread within bread! It is really simple to make, so do give it a go if you want to try and Italian dish you won't find at your local Italian restaurant. The recipe is my dad's.

INGREDIENTS (makes 2 generous slices for 6/8 people)

400 gr. ground chickpea flour
1.2 l water
2 tsp salt
3 tbs olive oil

NOTE: the number of baking trays you use may vary depending on their size; when pouring your mixture in the baking tray, keep in mind it should not exceed the 0.5 cm of thickness.

Get the chickpea flour and mix it well to the water and salt. Cover with a clean dishcloth and let it rest for at least a couple of hours. We used a pan simply because we didn't have a large enough mixing bowl handy
:-)

After this time, pre-heat your oven at 200° C. Tuscan wood-fired oven not necessary! ;-)

Divide the mixture between two non-stick baking trays, previously brushed with olive oil, and put them in the oven for about 15/20 minutes, depending on the temperature of your oven (it could be less). You know your cecina is ready when it will have formed its famous crunchy, golden crust (but it will still be soft to the touch).

Let it rest for about 10 minutes, then cut in slices and serve it on its on or sandwiched between focaccia rolls, not forgetting a good sprinkle of ground black pepper. The focaccia rolls in the picture below are my brother's!

Cheese, Tomato & Herbs Muffins

2010-07-28T20:33:00.003+01:00

I made these savoury muffins for a friend's house-warming party. As we had planned to go round to hers straight after work I needed something that could have been made the evening before, be easily transportable and did not require to be stored in the fridge. So I came up with this idea! The flavour combinations for savoury muffins can truly be endless. I gave mine an Italian twist using cherry tomatoes, basil and oregano.

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 muffins)

275 gr plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
225 ml milk
110 gr butter, melted
2 eggs
20 cherry tomatoes, quartered
100 gr cheddar cheese
5 leaves of fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried basil)
1 tsp of dried oregano
1 tsp of pepper

Preheat the oven at 200° C and place 12 muffin cases in a baking tray (it's easier if you use one that has holes already predisposed for muffins). Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix them all together. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and melted butter and stir in the cheese, tomatoes and herbs.

Fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture little by little, mixing well and making sure all the flour is evenly incorporated and no pockets are left. Your mixture will look quite unattractive, but don't worry about it :-)

Gently spoon the mixture in your muffin cases.

Bake them in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the centre of one of the muffins. Leave them to cool completely on a wire rack before serving them, and store them in an air-tight container. If you leave them develop their flavour for one night, they'll be even more delicious the following day. I gave a couple to my boyfriend for his packed lunch and he gave me the thumbs up in return :-)

Sole in a Lemon & White Wine Sauce with Parsley Potatoes

2010-07-13T22:03:00.001+01:00

Sole has been the star of our lunch last Saturday. This was lemon sole in particular; not that it naturally tastes of lemon at all :-) I understand it is called that because of its shape, which is supposed to remind one of the citrus fruit. Anyways, maybe inspired by its name, I have decided to include lemon amongst the ingredients of this dish, alongside white wine, which everybody knows marries well with fish. Coating the sole with flour will establish the foundation for your sauce, which in Italy is known as "alla mugnaia", which means "millman's sauce" - because of the flour it involves. I find it a very poetic name! The parsley potatoes are a side dish I learnt from my dad; I suggest you use waxy potatoes, which better hold their shape.

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

Two sole (trimmed, descaled and gutted)
A heaped tablespoon of flour
One lemon
Half a glass of white wine
300 gr. of potatoes (I used baby new potatoes)
One handful of freshly chopped parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

Start with the potatoes. Peel them (I used baby new potatoes, therefore I left the skin on), cut them in thin slices, wash them thoroughly to get rid of all the starch and dry them well. These last two steps will ensure your potatoes will get extremely crispy and delicious. Drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add the parsley and bake them in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for about 30 minutes, or until golden and crunchy.

When the potatoes are nearly done, get you sole and coat them in flour, on both sides.

Warm up a non-stick pan on medium heat, then drizzle with olive oil, and transfer the sole in it. Drizzle some more olive oil on top, and let them cook for one minute (the flour, reacting to the olive oil, will form a tasty and crunchy caramelised crust on the skin of the fish). Squeeze in the juice of one lemon, add the white wine, some salt and pepper, cover with a lid and let it cook for a further 5 minutes. The sauce will reduce and thicken. I didn't have a pan large enough to contain both fish, so I cooked one at the time; in that case, use the juice of half a lemon and a quarter of glass of wine for each sole. Transfer the fish to a plate, pour the sauce on top, and serve with the potatoes on the side.

Stringy Pasta

2010-07-10T17:04:00.002+01:00

This recipe is 'dedicated' to the people that say they don't have time to cook. It takes about 15 minutes to make from scratch, it is healthy, tasty and definitely more rewarding to eat than something that has just come out of the microwave. Pretty much all the ingredients bar the mozzarella are stuff that people tend to have in their cupboard anyways, so it takes very little planning from your side. A tip on the mozzarella: you can buy it and freeze it on the day of purchase, so you will have it handy when you decide to cook this dish and won't even have to go to the shops!

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

200 gr pasta (I used the cavatappi shape, but fusilli or conchiglie would also work well)
One tin of chopped tomatoes
5 leaves of fresh basil (or you can use dried basil, although fresh is better)
1 ball of mozzarella cheese
1 red onion
1 pinch of sugar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

Chop your onion very finely, and sweat it in a little olive oil, at low heat, until soft and translucent.

Add the tomatoes to the onion, and turn on the flame. Add a pinch of sugar (in order to balance the acidity tinned tomatoes tend to have), season with salt and pepper, add two basil leaves and let it reduce for about 5 minutes, until your sauce appears thick and glossy. Taste it, add more salt and pepper if necessary and turn the heat off. Fish the basil leaves out and discard.

While your sauce is simmering, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. As soon as ready, drain immediately and add it to the pan containing the tomato sauce, stirring it on medium heat.

Tear the mozzarella in shreds, and add it to pasta in the hot pan, always stirring clockwise, until the cheese is completely melted and has been evenly incorporated by the sauce.

Serve it immediately while hot; the cheese will form long, delicious strings (the mystery behind the name now revealed) and while quite messy to dish up, it's a lot of fun to eat :-) Garnish with the rest of the basil leaves, chopped finely, and some more black pepper.

Octopus, Potato & Roasted Tomato Salad

2010-07-06T20:03:00.001+01:00

Octopus, what a delicacy! If you have never tried it, do it at the first occasion as you do not know what you have been missing until now; if you are too squeamish to do so...well, shame on you :-) These creatures are extremely fascinating, and I have often admired them under water through the lenses of my snorkelling mask, lurking amongst the rocks of some cliff in the Mediterranean sea, waiting patiently for their prey to swim within reach of their tentacles. I also find them equally captivating on my plate, with their tender, delicate but oh so flavoursome flesh. If you cook octopus slowly and for long enough, you'll find there is no need to beat it about with a meat hammer or such to tenderise it, so it is also rather easy to prepare. Here's a recipe for a tasty summer salad.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people as a starter or two as a main)

An octopus of 1 and 1/2 Kg
400 gr of baby new potatoes
3 large, ripe beef tomatoes
Breadcrumbs
1 clove of garlic
A handful of freshly chopped parsley
Some dried oregano
Extra-virgin olive oil
Half a lemon
Salt and pepper

If you are buying your octopus fresh, ask your fishmonger to clean it for you (which means remove the innards, beak and eyes. Nice). Otherwise if you are buying it frozen, it would have most likely already been cleaned. If the latter is the case, wait for it to defrost, then place it in a large saucepan filled with water (the octopus needs to be completely submerged) and bring it to the boil. Let it simmer gently for about 1 hour/ 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the flesh is tender when pierced with a toothpick. Let the octopus cool in its own water.

When cool enough to handle, run your hands on each tentacle and the head, in order to peel off the skin - you'll find it will come off easily. Leave the suckers attached. When all the skin has been removed to reveal the white flesh, chop your octopus in bite-sized pieces and place them in a bowl.

Heat the oven at 200°C. Cut your tomatoes horizontally in thick slices, then place them on a baking tray (they must not overlap). Drizzle each slice with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano, then cover with breadcrumbs and drizzle with more olive oil. Roast them in the oven for about 30 minutes or until they have formed a golden, caramelised crust. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes, then cut each tomato slice in half and add them to the octopus, in the bowl.

Now cut each baby new potato in two, and boil them until tender. Drain them and while still hot, add them to the tomatoes and octopus. Dress your salad to taste with olive oil, a handful of chopped parsley, one clove of garlic chopped very finely, salt, pepper and if you like, a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve it immediately, while still warm.

Gratin of Mussels

2010-07-04T20:24:00.003+01:00

I am normally not one for fiddly food that requires a long preparation: these mussels are the exception to my rule. And why is that, you will wonder? Because a single mouthful of their juicy flesh, covered in that golden, cheesy crust, is enough to repay me for the time spent in the kitchen scrubbing them clean, opening them all one by one, scraping the flesh from both shells to go into one and stuffing them with the various ingredients. If this hasn't put you off already from attempting to prepare this dish, please give them a go. I promise you won't regret having put in the effort!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people as a starter, or 2 as a main)

1 Kg of fresh mussels
A large handful of freshly chopped parsley
A large handful of grated parmesan cheese
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
Breadcrumbs
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Please bear in mind that this dish should be prepared, cooked and eaten immediately. Seafood is quite delicate, so once the mussels have been prepped, you don't want them to sit around for too long before putting them into the oven and once they are cooked, you should enjoy them while they are still nice and hot.

Get your mussels, scrub their shells clean with a pairing knife, pull off and discard the beards. If any of them does not close up while you are handling them, plunge them in cold water - if they still remain open, throw them away as it means they are already dead and potentially harmful to your stomach! Still using your pairing knife, insert the tip of the blade in between the two shells, on the side where their shape is straighter, and lever along the edge to severe the hinge. Your mussels will open up easily at this point, their flesh divided in between the two shells. Using a spoon, scrape the flesh off one of the shell halves (be gentle, try to keep it as whole as possible), place it in the other shell and discard the empty one. Place your single shells in a baking tray.

For each of the mussels, this is what you need to do: 1 - sprinkle it with salt, pepper, garlic and parsley; 2- drizzle with olive oil; 3 - place a pinch of grated parmesan cheese onto it; 4 - cover it with bread crumbs; 5 - drizzle with more olive oil.

Bake them in the oven at 180°C for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and the breadcrumbs have turned golden and crunchy. Serve them immediately, on their own or with some crusty, white bread.

Courgette & Parmesan Fritters

2010-06-29T20:53:00.002+01:00

These little fritters are an utter delight! Light, crunchy, not greasy at all, they are great even in this hot summer weather. You can serve them as an interesting side dish, tasty starter or as a nibble with drinks. The recipe is my mum's, although I have increased the quantity of Parmesan in my version. I strongly advise you to use super-fresh, firm courgettes that are not too large in size, as the big ones tend to taste a bit marrow-like.

INGREDIENTS (makes about 20 fritters)

3 medium sized courgettes
1 medium-sized potato
A big handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of plain flour
1 free range/organic egg
Salt & pepper
Sunflower oil for frying

Using a Cheddar cheese grater, grate the courgettes and potato and place them in a bowl.

Add the grated Parmesan, the flour, egg, salt and pepper and mix all the ingredients well. Bear in mind that if you let this mixture sit around for too long the vegetables will start releasing water and they will go soggy, so be ready to cook the fritters immediately.

Warm up a frying up with sunflower oil to a depth of 2 cm. The oil must not be too hot, otherwise your fritters will burn before they can cook through. Using your hands, shape the mixture in small, flat patties and drop them in to the hot oil.

Let each fritter cook gently and when they are golden on one side, flip them over and let them acquire the same colour on the other side.

Fish them out with a slotted spoon and lay them on a tray lined with kitchen paper. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper, and serve while they are still warm. Mmmm :-)

Roast Monkfish with Olive Oil Mash & Aubergine

2010-06-26T23:06:00.002+01:00

The week-end is the only time I can go to the fishmonger's; it normally opens when I am already off to work and closes before I get back home. Therefore, Saturday morning is the ideal time to pay him a visit and stock up on the fish I am going to freeze and use for our mid-week dinners. However, I can tell you right away that the freezing part is out of bare necessity (as I can't buy it every day, as I mentioned). If you want to eat fish, the best way to enjoy it is definitely fresh! So when I saw these glistening, pearly monkfish fillets this morning, I simply could not bring myself to do anything else but use them for our evening meal.

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

2 monkfish fillets
One aubergine
One large, ripe tomato
Half a red onion
4 medium-sized potatoes
A splash of milk
A couple of knobs of butter
3 sprigs of rosemary
Half a lemon
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

Start by marinating the fish. Because monkfish tends to release its milky juices when cooking, prevent this by salting it to drain the excess moisture. Chop a sprig of rosemary and squeeze the juice of one lemon, then cover with cling film and leave the fish in its marinade for about one hour.

Chop your aubergine and tomato in small cubes, and slice your red onion finely. Put them in a tray, drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and two rosemary sprigs them and roast them in the oven at 180°C for about 40 minutes, stirring them every 10 minutes or so, until soft and caramelised. Leave to rest on the side.

Cut the potatoes in large chunks and boil them in salted water until soft. Drain and return them to the pan; mash roughly with a potato masher, add a splash of milk, two knobs of butter, a generous glug of olive oil, some salt and beat it up with a hand-held whisker, until your mash is fluffy and lump-free. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Now, it's time for la pièce de résistance: the monkfish! Get a non-stick pan as hot as you can; take your fillets out of the marinade, pat them dry with kitchen paper, drizzle them with a little olive oil and drop them in the hot pan. What you are doing is searing the fish prior to roasting it, so that it acquires an attractive colour and delicious flavour. Sear each side of the fillets for a couple of minutes, then transfer them into a hot oven (about 200°C) to roast for about 10 -15 minutes.

Warm up your roasted vegetables by returning them to the oven for three minutes. Spoon some mash potato onto a plate, drizzle with some more olive oil, arrange the monkfish fillet on top and spoon the roasted aubergines on the fillet and all around the mash. Tuck in right away!

Peach & Almond Pie

2010-06-20T20:46:00.003+01:00

You honestly can't beat Summer fruit. As much as I love the crunchy apples and juicy pears of Autumn and Winter, they simply can't compare to the colourful abundance of apricots, peaches, melons and berries you get in the warm season. My greengrocer yesterday was displaying such a variety of Summer fruit, all smelling enticing and sweet, that I suddenly got an urge for baking a peach pie! I decided to follow the recipe I use for making plum and walnut cake (which may sooner or later end up on the blog, too!), which is Nigel Slater's; however I implemented a few changes, such as roasting the peaches in honey before incorporating them to the cake batter; using self raising flour; and substituting the chopped walnuts with flaked almonds. Yum! Half of it's already gone...not all eaten by myself alone, mind you!

INGREDIENTS (for 6-8 people)

150 gr butter
150 gr golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
75 gr self-raising flour
100 gr ground almonds
50 gr of flaked almonds
1 tablespoon of honey
8 ripe peaches
A loose-bottom cake tin

Peel your peaches and cut them into quarters. Drizzle with honey and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, take a sheet of baking parchment and put the bottom of your cake tin on top of it; trace its circumference with a pencil and cut along it using scissors, so that you end up with a disc of paper. Using some butter as glue, line the bottom of the cake tin with this baking parchment disc.

Beat the butter and sugar together until it is really creamy and fluffy, and resembles vanilla ice-cream.

Break the eggs in another bowl and beat them lightly with a fork; incorporate them into the sugar and batter mix bit by bit, then fold in the flour and ground almonds. Lastly, add the flaked almonds.

Now, add in your roasted peaches, that you would have left to cool first - don't add the peaches hot out of the oven to the mixture or they'll start to cook the eggs and mess up the delicate chemical process that is baking a cake!

Pour the batter into the cake tin and put it in the oven, still at 180°C (I don't use the fan-assisted function for cakes as I find it dries them too much), for 40-45 minutes. Insert a skewer in to test whether it's ready; if it comes out clean, then it is.

Leave it to cool for about one hour before removing from the tin. Serve alongside vanilla ice-cream or in a deep bowl, with cream poured all over it!

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni

2010-06-18T23:50:00.003+01:00

Here's another traditional Italian recipe. And I know that every Italian will tell you this, but...this version is unique because it has the special filling that my nonna (granny) uses, and inherited from her mother. This whole thing is a tad cliché, I admit it. But the recipe honestly isn't! Read more to find out the family secret...
INGREDIENTS (6 people)

500 gr spinach
500 gr ricotta
1 orange
1 lemon
2 handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
500 ml of bechamél sauce (see recipe here. You'll need 500 ml of milk, 50 gr of butter and 50 gr of plain flour)
1 bottle of passata
250 gr of dried cannelloni tubes
1 free range egg
Fresh basil
1 small red onion
Salt & pepper

Wash your spinach and put them in a pan without draining them. Turn the heat up (medium) and let the spinach wilt. Drain and when they are cool enough to handle, squeeze out all the excess water (the best way is to use your hands for this) and finally chop them up in small pieces. Put them in a bowl and mix them to the ricotta and Parmesan cheese. Now, my nonna's secret: add the zest of one orange and one lemon to the filling mix. The flavour this little touch gives to the dish is incredible! Adjust the seasoning and when you are satisfied with it, add the egg to the mixture, and let it rest while you get on with the next steps.

Make a tomato sauce by chopping finely the red onion, sweating it in a little olive oil, then adding the passata and the basil. Let it simmer at medium heat and fish out the basil at the end. Make 500 ml of bechamél sauce by following the recipe here.

Spoon some bechamél and some tomato sauce on the bottom of a large baking tray, spreading them a little to cover its surface. Stuff the cannelloni tubes with the spinach and ricotta mix, using a teaspoon. Lay the cannelloni next to each other in the tray, and finally cover them with the rest of the bechamél and tomato sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan and bake for 30/40 minutes at 180°C. You can assemble the cannelloni in advance, and bake them just before your guests arrive, which makes it a brilliant dish for a dinner party.

White Chocolate Pannacotta with Raspberry Coulis

2010-06-18T23:02:00.001+01:00

Pannacotta has to be one of the easiest desserts you can make. The name means cooked cream, and that's exactly what it is! You can flavour it in any way you want, with vanilla, coffee, cardamom...in my case, white chocolate! Now I have to apologise, as I forgot to take a picture of the finished coulis, but I assure you the bright pink of the coulis looks extremely pretty against the delicate, pale pannacotta. Moreover, its sharpness cuts beautifully through the richness of the dessert. Give it a go and let me know what you think!

INGREDIENTS (for 6 people)

300 ml double cream
180 ml milk
150 gr of (good quality) white chocolate
75 gr caster sugar
4 gelatine leaves

FOR THE COULIS

300 gr of frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

In a small saucepan, put the cream, sugar and chopped chocolate. Heat it up gently, stirring from time to time, until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is about to boil. Stop yourself from eating up all of this heavenly soup.

Put the gelatine leaves in a little bowl filled with ice-cold water and leave them to stand for a couple of minutes. Squeeze them to get rid of the excess water, then add them to the cooked cream (which you will have left to cool a little. Never add gelatine to boiling liquids as its thickening properties will be significantly diminished. Check me out). Spoon the mixture in two six ramekins, cover with clingfilm and let it set in the fridge for at least six hours, or overnight if you can.

On to the coulis: whizz your raspberries with the icing sugar and a few drops of lemon in a food processor. Taste and adjust the 'seasoning' - it may be you need more sugar or lemon according to the sharpness of the fruit. When you are happy with the taste, strain your purée through a sieve, pushing it with the aid of the back of a spoon. Done!

Take the pannacotta out of the fridge about 30 minutes before serving it, and spoon the coulis on top, taking the rest to the table in case your guests want to help themselves to more. This is an ideal dessert to make it advance. Don't be fooled by the small portions - this is a really rich pudding and you'll find that one ramekin is more than enough. Unless you are my boyfriend, in which case you'll find that you'll need three.

Grilled Asparagus

2010-06-18T22:32:00.002+01:00

Here's another recipe with asparagus. Make the most of them, while they are in season: grilled, they are particularly delicious. Oh, you can make this recipe using a barbecue too, so here's an alternative to your usual coleslaw salad!

INGREDIENTS (for four people)

20 super-fresh asparagus
Extra-virgin olive oil
Lemon
Salt & pepper

Get rid of the woody part of the asparagus stalks. How do you distinguish when the edible part starts and the woody section ends? You can do this by applying a light pressure about halfway each stalk, as if you wanted to break them in two with your hands - which, by the way, it's exactly what you are trying to do. You will find that they snap in exactly the point where the woody part starts and the tender one ends. You can tidy up the 'messy ends' by pairing them with a knife. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil, and plunge your asparagus in, so that they stand upright. The ends should be above the water, so that the stem boils and the end steams. Clever, uhu? Whoever came up with this cooking method certainly is.

After 4 - 5 minutes, drain your asparagus. I actually reserve the (cooled) water to water my house plants, as it's rich in all the vitamins and minerals the asparagus have lost while cooking. You can do this with all the vegetables, except with maybe cauliflower as I find it really makes your plants stink. But back to our grilled asparagus! Toss them in a little olive oil and get a cast iron griddled pan nice and hot. It is essential to let the pan heat up properly to allow the asparagus to brown without losing too much moisture.

Lay each asparagus on the grill and let it cook for about 3-4 minutes, then turn it around and cook the other side. Important: if you want your asparagus to obtain those attractive, brown, grilled lines, leave them alone! Don't keep on moving them around while they are on the grill. When done, let them cool a little and dress them with olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon or a dash of white wine vinegar. Serve warm.

Aubergines Parmigiana (Melanzane alla Parmigiana)

2010-05-31T21:53:00.001+01:00

Few dishes scream 'summer' to me like melanzane alla parmigiana. This is a proper mediterranean dish, its key ingredients being aubergines, tomatoes, basil, olive oil and of course, Parmesan cheese. It makes a great vegetarian main, or a tasty side. It is not exactly a light dish; you could grill the aubergines instead of frying them, however (at least in my opinion) the final result won't be as tasty. You also need to be generous with the cheese; a sprinkle just won't do, you need a good layer. If you are worried about your waistline, just eat a smaller portion or go for a long walk after lunch :-)

INGREDIENTS (for 2 people as a main or 4 as a side)

One large aubergine
1 bottle of passata
A few basil leaves
One onion
One clove of garlic
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Three large handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (approximately)

Cut the aubergine in fine slices. Sprinkle each slice with a little salt and put them in a colander for about 20 minutes. These will help them release the excess water.

Fry each slice in a little olive oil, until they are golden and soft. Lay them on kitchen paper, which will ensure that any excess oil is absorbed.

Chop the onion and garlic very finely and soften them at low heat in a little olive oil. Add the passata, the basil leaves, salt and pepper and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

When the sauce is ready, get a baking tray and spoon some tomato sauce at the bottom. Place a layer of aubergines on the sauce, then another layer of sauce and finally a generous layer of Parmesan. Continue like this (aubergines, sauce, Parmesan) until you run out of ingredients.

Bake them in a pre-heated oven at 180 ° C for about 30 minutes, then let it rest for a further 30 minutes. It should be served warm, not piping hot. Make sure you provide plenty of fresh, crusty bread to mop up the juices!

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Garlic Croutons

2010-05-09T00:11:00.000+01:00

Today I have been to the 'Real Food Festival' at Earl's Court, here in London. It was brilliant! There were more than 400 stalls from small producers aiming to promote local, sustainable ingredients and traditional cooking, growing and breeding methods. I was just in my element and was jumping from a stall to another sampling the products and chatting to the producers, before buying a number of delicacies including Scottish Aberdeen Angus pastrami and sweet cured carpaccio, smoked bacon, Gloucestershire Old Spot sausages, Hundred Dram cheddar, Red Leicester and Mustard biscuits, lemon curd cookies, Somerset bread and a whole jar of sliced black truffle. Goodness me!
One of the things I enjoyed the most was meeting two young producers from Suffolk, who introduced me to the joys of rapeseed oil. Cold pressed and packed with omega 3, it was suggested as the British alternative to olive oil. While olive oil is a key ingredient to me and could never go without, I believe that it's often overrated here in the UK, in the sense that too often I see rubbish random, sourced 'god-knows-where-from' olive oils sold for a ridiculous amount of money in supermarkets. I get my olive from Italy, from producers my parents know personally and was therefore intrigued to try a different variety from two farmers whose love and care for their product was so clearly evident. So I bought a bottle, went home and tried immediately by using it in my roasted pumpkin soup. The result was delicious and the rapeseed oil gave the soup a nutty, uplifting edge. You really learn something every day!

PS - I really must mention another super-exciting fact: I watched Giorgio Locatelli making saltimbocca alla romana using English veal, accompanied by wild chanterelle mushrooms and melanzane alla parmigiana. And I got to be the first in line to taste the final dish! Needless to say, it was out of this world!!!

INGREDIENTS

1 butternut squash
1 white onion
1 stick of celery
Dried of fresh thyme
A handful of chopped parsley
A handful of risotto rice
Salt and pepper
Rapeseed oil
Grated parmesan to serve (optional)

For the garlic croutons:

Good quality bread, like ciabatta or pain de campagne (ready sliced won't work!)
A clove of garlic
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

Cut your butternut squash in two, using a sharp, large kitchen knife. Drizzle with rapeseed oil, sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper and roast it in the oven at 180° C for about 40 minutes.

Let the squash cool down a little, then peel the skin - it will be soft and you should find this process much easier now than when the vegetable is raw. Cut it into chunks and put aside. Chop the onion and celery, add more rapeseed oil to a cast-iron pan and let them soften at low heat. Add the butternut squash and cover with about 700 ml of boiling water.

Let it simmer slowly for 30 minutes, adding a handful of rice after 10 minutes. When blended alongside the rest of the ingredients, the rice will add as a thickening agent and can be used as a healthy alternative to cream. After half an hour, take the pan off the heat and whizz the soup up using a hand-held blender (or transfer to a normal blender). Let it rest.
Now crack on with your garlic croutons. Cut 4 slices of bread and toast it until golden and crunchy. Rub each slice with garlic, drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Do this on both sides, then cut each slice in smaller bits, to form your croutons. They are an healthier version of the fried ones, but I promise you there is no compromise on flavour.

Serve your soup with some parsley, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese (if desired) and croutons on top, and more of the latter on the side. Who said that healthy food has to taste bland?

Asparagus Risotto

2010-05-08T22:11:00.001+01:00

Because last Monday it was a bank holiday, we decided to take a short break and spend the long week-end in North Devon. We were quite lucky with the weather and drove around visiting many different villages, stopping over for lunch, dinner and of course, cream tea. My food highlights were a mixed grilled seafood platter that comprised bass, scallops and tiger prawns in Bideford; spanking fresh fish & chips in Braunton; and a crab and lemon mayonnaise sandwich followed by cream tea (with proper clotted cream and jam) in Lynmouth. On the way back, we stopped over at a farm shop that had a sign promising 'Freshly Picked Asparagus'. How to resist? Asparagus are one of the great gifts of spring to us, alongside swallows and daffodils. So as soon as we got home, I honoured this superb vegetable by making it the star ingredient of a creamy risotto.

INGREDIENTS

8 or 10 fresh asparagus
1 shallot (or one leek)
1 small potato
200 gr. of risotto rice (I used the Carnaroli variety)
1 litre of chicken stock (or use vegetable stock if you are vegetarian)
1 small glass of white wine
2 handfuls of grated parmesan cheese
1 handful of grated mature cheddar cheese
1 glug of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

Wash and dry the asparagus, then slice up the stalks and reserve the heads for later. Peel and dice the potato in small pieces. Finely dice the shallot and fry it at low heat alongside the asparagus stalks and the potato in a deep, large pan. The reason why I add the potato is a little trick I learned from mum; by the time the risotto is cooked it will have nearly completely disintegrated and its starch will contribute to the creaminess of the dish.

When the shallot is translucent, add the rice to the pan, give it a quick stir and 'toast' it (which means let it soak up the juices of the vegetables and cook dry for one minute). Now add the white wine, turn the heat up and let all the alcohol bubble away. Once this has happened, turn the heat down again, add a ladleful of stock to the risotto and stir it very gently, always in the same direction and keeping your wooden spoon closer to the edge of the pan, not the centre. What you are trying to do here is to 'massage' the grains of rice to allow them to soak up the stock and grow larger, without breaking them. Keep on repeating this exercise, feeding the risotto with stock whenever it looks dry and stirring it gently from time to time. Add the asparagus heads towards the end, as they need less time to cook. The rice normally takes 20 - 25 minutes to cook, so add the heads after 15 - 20 minutes it has been cooking.

When the rice is cooked, taste your risotto and season it with salt and pepper. Finally, stir in the cheese and if you want, a knob of butter. The consistency you are after is creamy: therefore not too watery but not too thick, either. Serve it immediately - it's a little bit of spring on your plate.

Goat cheese & Chive Omelette

2010-04-27T21:38:00.003+01:00

My boyfriend and I are a good match: I love cooking, he loves eating! Who am I kidding, I love eating too, however it's nice to have someone who is always up for being the guinea pig of your concoctions and is able to give you competent feedback on how to improve them. But...there is always a but. There is one thing he can't bring himself to eat: eggs. Fine if they are part of a cake, meatball or fritter, but don't suggest eggs Benedict or a frittata or he'll jump through the window - he can't even stand the smell. So, eggs have become the main ingredients of the 'dinners for one' I cook when he is away on business. Tonight, I really wanted a cheese omelette. I adore the combination fried egg and onion, but I didn't want the latter to overpower the taste of the cheese. Therefore I decided to use chives to convey a delicate oniony flavour, and a creamy goat cheese for the filling, which melts beautifully like brie does but whose taste is more robust. The result was excellent. My boyfriend really doesn't know what he is missing.

INGREDIENTS (for one omelette)

2 eggs (organic or free range)
A handful of chives
A splash of milk
Half a small goat cheese
Salt & pepper

This recipe couldn't be easier, trust me. If you are serving more than one person, you can keep the omelettes that are ready warm in the oven at 125° C while you are cooking the rest.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl together with the milk, salt and pepper. Using kitchen scissors, cut the chives in small bits and add them to the egg.

Heat a large non-stick pan with a little olive oil at very low heat. When it is hot, pour the egg in and cover with a lid. Leave the eggs to cook slowly for 2 - 3 minutes. When they look nearly cooked but still a bit underdone, it is time to add your goat cheese, cut in small bits, on top of just one half of the omelette.

Now carefully lift the side of the omelette that doesn't have cheese on it, and fold it over the other side. Leave it to cook for a further minute.

And it is done! Serve it alongside a crunchy mixed leaf salad for a quick, nutritious and cheap meal that does not compromise on taste.

Sesame Beef Stir-Fry

2010-04-25T22:24:00.001+01:00

There's a lovely little Korean restaurant near where we live, where after you have nibbled on a series of deliciously vinegary pickled vegetables and steamed dumplings as appetisers, they put a large grill in the middle of your table and cook your meat of choice in front of you. I love watching the waiter sapiently stirring the morsels of beef, pork or chicken with his chopsticks on the mini barbecue, and then placing them on your plate for you to eat rolled up in a lettuce leaf with rice. Sooo yummy. This evening, I decided to have a go at making my own sesame beef stiry fry. The final photo didn't come out great, but hopefully the recipe can make up for my poor photographer skills :-)

INGREDIENTS (for two people)

2 beef steaks, sliced quite thin (rumpsteak or sirloin)
150 gr dried noodles
300 gr broccoli
About 15 baby corn
About 15 chestnut mushrooms
4 tablespoons of teriyaki marinade
Soy sauce
Sesame seeds, one heaped tablespoon
A thumbsize piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
One red chilli (fresh or dried), chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic
Groundnut oil

One of the reason why the Korean barbecued meat is so tasty is because it is marinated before being cooked. To get some serious flavour into your beef, allow at least a couple of hours for this purpose. Cut up your steaks in bite-sized pieces, and place them in a bowl. Add the teriyaki sauce, the grated ginger and the garlic, finely sliced. Ensure all the meat is coated with the marinade, then cover it with foil and put in the fridge. Now prep your vegetables: cut off the broccoli's steam and cut up the florets in small pieces. Slice the baby corn in half lengthways and divide each mushrooms in quarters. Leave them on the side for later; as with almost any Asian recipe, the preparation is done beforehand and all the cooking happens at the last minute.

Get your noodles, place them in a bowl and cover them with boiling water, letting them stand for 5 minutes. Drain them and chuck them in the hot wok with some groundnut oil. Season them with soy sauce and stir fry them until they are slightly crunchy and have acquired a golden colour. This will ensure your noodles will have an interesting texture and more importantly, lots of flavour - in fact, at this stage they are already so tasty that you could eat them on their own! But that's not what you want to do now, so place them back in the bowl and reserve them for later.

Your wok should still be hot, so add a little bit more oil and tip your vegetables in: first the broccoli, then after 3 minutes the baby corn and finally, after 2 more minutes, the mushrooms. Season them with soy sauce and stir fry them until caramelized and tender, but not too soft. Add the noodles back to the wok with the vegetables, flick the pan (or use a wooden spatula) to mix the ingredients well and finally place them in a large serving bowl, ready to be taken to the table.

Now move fast with your beef, you don't want your noodles and vegetables to get cold! But don't worry, what you need to do at this stage is super-easy. Simply add the sesame seeds to the the marinated beef and mix quickly to make sure all the pieces are coated, then tip it into the hot wok with a bit of oil, making sure you scrape all the bits of garlic and ginger into the pan. Stir fry for three minutes and voilá, it's done.

Serve your beef accompanied by the noodles with vegetables and if you're sad like me, decorate the plate with orchid flowers.

Apple & Chocolate Drops Muffins

2010-04-25T10:36:00.001+01:00

This recipe is another offspring of yesterday's pic-nic catering requirements. My boyfriend being a (very) sweet tooth I wanted to take some sort of pudding to finish off the meal and to accompany our flask of freshly made hot espresso coffee - yes, coffee at a BBQ! It's another Italian tradition, in case you were wondering :-) Muffins immediately came to mind, once again for their portability and their individual-sized portions. My glance fell upon a few small, sweet Golden Gala apples I had bought to keep in the house for snacking, and since I love the combination chocolate+apple, here's how these muffins were born.

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 muffins)

260 gr plain flour
1 tbs of baking powder
A pinch of salt
70 gr of cane sugar (I used light Muscovado)
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
100 gr of good quality chocolate (I used Lindt's 'milk and crunchy caramel')
2 free range/organic eggs
180 gr milk
60 gr of butter (melted)
4 small apples (or 3 medium ones)
12 muffins cases
A muffin tray will make your life easier but it's not essential

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon) and mix them well. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter and milk and pour them in the dry ingredients' bowl, mixing them all together. The mixture will be thick and quite hard to stir, but don't worry, this is how it is supposed to be. Add one grated apple, three diced apples (obviously all of them will have been cored and peeled) and the chocolate, chopped in small bits.

Carefully spoon the batter in the muffin cases and bake them in the oven, pre-heated at 180°C, for about 20 - 25 minutes, or until they are golden. Inserting the toothpick in the muffins to check if they are done won't necessarily work in this case as the apple will keep them really moist. The smell that comes out of the oven while these are baking is just heavenly! They are also great at breakfast time, with your coffee or cappuccino.

Bresaola Rolls

2010-04-24T23:52:00.001+01:00

Whenever my mum and dad, brother or any other relative/friend from Italy visit us in London, they always come bearing much appreciated gifts in the form of fresh Italian produce :-) Not that the same things cannot be bought nowadays in most of our local shops or deli (although there are a few ingredients I still struggle to find). However, aside from the advantage of not coming with an over-inflated London price tag, these ingredients have the added bonus of having been sourced from my family's trusted butcher/baker/farmer or are from less popular, but better, Italian brands not sold in the UK. My parent's latest visit in March stocked our larder and fridge with countless delicacies, including bresaola, which is essentially cured beef (precisely the top round) and originates from the North of Italy, in Valtellina. In Italy it is normally served as an antipasto, dressed with a little olive oil, lemon juice and shaved parmesan, and scattered with rocket leaves. Here's how I like to jazz my bresaola up and turn it into a dead easy starter that's a bit different from the one you usually come across when it comes to this cured meat.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)

12 slices of bresaola
Cream cheese (like Philadelphia)
Dried mixed herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, tarragon)
Olive oil
Pepper
Mixed peppery salad leaves (should include rocket and/or watercress)
Half a lemon

Delicately separate one slice of bresaola from the other ones, being careful not to tear it. Lay it on a plate, then spread it with a layer of cream cheese. Sprinkle with the dried herbs, then roll it up on itself.

Repeat with all the bresaola slices. Dress the salad leaves with olive oil and lemon, then scatter them on a platter. Arrange the bresaola rolls on the leaves, drizzle with olive oil, squeeze some lemon and sprinkle some pepper and voilá, they are ready to be served. If you are not eating them immediately, I suggest you keep the rolls in the fridge and dress the salad only just before taking them to the table, or it'll go soggy. I have also made these rolls with chopped olives or finely diced tomatoes instead of the dried herbs and they went down well, too. Perfect as a quick starter, as finger food for a party or as canapés with drinks.

Cheese & Vegetable Flan

2010-04-24T21:51:00.003+01:00

What beautiful weather this month has given us so far! The sun is shining, the temperature mild and getting out of bed and of the house in the morning does not seem as dreadful an idea as in the cold winter months. After many dark afternoons spent curled up on the sofa watching a DVD while the rain is pouring outside the window at the week-end, this Saturday morning I felt like I couldn't wait to get out and soak up the sun. At last, it's time for the first BBQ of the year! Alongside the grilled sausage sandwiches, enriched by my boyfriend's roasted cherry tomatoes and a dollop of piquant French mustard, I decided to skip the usual salad and serve a side dish that may be a bit unusual for the UK, but that is a big hit at Italian pic-nics. That's cheese and vegetable flan, or sformato di formaggio e verdure. Moreish, very portable and delicious even when served cold - therefore perfect for being eaten outdoors, with your toes on the grass and the sun on your back.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8)

Broccoli florets (without the stem, about 100 gr)
2 courgettes
1 large potato
1 shallot
A handful of chopped parsley
Two handfuls of freshly grated gruyère cheese
A handful of freshly grated cheddar cheese
50 gr butter (+ more for rubbing it on your baking tray)
50 gr flour
500 ml milk
2 free range eggs
Grated nutmeg
Breadcrumbs
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

First of all, make a béchamel sauce. Melt the butter at very low heat in a small saucepan; add the flour and the milk bit by bit, always whisking to prevent lumps from forming. Slowly bring the mixture to the boil, stirring it often, until it gets thick and acquires a custard-like consistency. Season with salt and a bit of grated nutmeg and set aside. Now dice your courgettes and potatoes, cut up the broccoli in small florets and boil the vegetables until tender.

Chop the shallot and fry it at very low heat in a knob of butter, then add the boiled vegetables to the pan and 'stir fry' them for a few minutes at moderate heat, until they have acquired some colour. Now taste them and season them with salt and pepper, then let them cool down a little.

In a large bowl, tip your lukewarm vegetables, béchamel sauce, cheese, parsley and stir. Taste the mixture again: make sure the seasoning is right or your flan will taste bland. When you are happy with it, add the eggs. The mixture will look quite unattractive, a bit like a green cake batter, but don't worry - it will look much prettier when it's cooked, I promise! Now get a non-stick shallow baking tray and rub it all over with butter, then sprinkle breadcrumbs on it, a bit like you would do with flour when making a soufflé. After this little trick, your flan will be super-easy to lift from the tray when cut in neat slices.

Tip the 'batter' in the tray, sprinkle with more breadcrumbs, drizzle it with olive oil and finally grate some more cheese on top. This will guarantee you a tasty, golden crust.

Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 180° C for about 30 minutes. When ready, let it rest for at least 30 minutes before serving it. It's one of those dishes that you can make one day in advance and it tastes all that much better for it, and you can pick and mix your vegetables - try cauliflower, squash, peas, artichokes, spinach - you name it! Great also served as a vegetarian main course alongside a fresh green salad, or as a starter.

My Mamma's Fried Chicken

2010-04-18T20:10:00.002+01:00

Fried chicken - that's what I consider to be one of the biggest crowd pleasers. Whenever I have served this delicacy, I have always seen my guests going for not just second, but third or fourth helpings! My version of this dish is my mum's own special recipe; it is made with breast meat only, so that it is super tender and the cooking time is the same for all the pieces, and the batter is enriched with parmesan and parsley. The result is a crispy, savoury coating that encases juicy, moist strips of chicken. If you decide to cook this dish, my main advice is to make plenty: I would not be surprised if they prove to be addictive!

INGREDIENTS (for 3 - 4 people)

2 chicken breasts* (organic or free range, please!)
2 eggs (same as above!)
Breadcrumbs (you'll need roughly 150 gr. but make sure you have more handy, just in case)
Three tablespoons of plain flour
Two level tablespoons of finely chopped flat-leaf parsely
Two heaped tablespoons of grated Parmesan (Parmigiano) cheese
Sunflower oil
Salt

* Tip: when I need chicken breast meat, I find that it works out much cheaper to buy a whole chicken and cut off the breast myself - or if you don't feel confident doing this, you can ask your butcher to do so for you. Then use the legs and wings for roasting/curry/casseroles, and the carcass for making stock. I easily get 5 meals for 2 people at least, out of one chicken!

Take the skin off the breast and cut them into strips; this doesn't need to be a surgical procedure but if you can make it roughly of the same size, this would help you ensure they all cook evenly. Put the flour in a bowl and the breadcrumbs in a small plate. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together, add a pinch of salt, the cheese and the parsely and mix it all together to form a batter. Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan (the temperature is right when you drop a small piece of potato in the oil and it comes floating to the surface). You'll be deep frying, therefore pour oil to a depth of about 2 cm in the pan. Now get one chicken strip, coat it in flour a shake off the excess; dip it in the egg batter; roll it in the breadcrumbs until evenly coated, and carefully drop it in the hot oil.

Repeat until the pan is filled with chicken strips (but don't overcrowd it or they won't cook properly). Keep the heat medium-low and let each strip cook for 3-4 minutes before overturning it. When ready, take them out of the pan using a slotted spoon or a pair of tongs, rest the on a tray lined with kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt. While you are cooking them all, you can keep the ones that are ready warm in the oven at 125 C°.

Serve with a wedge of lemon, a side of green salad and garlic mayo or sweet chilli sauce for dipping. They are also delicious cold in a sandwich or wrap.

Improvised Paella

2010-04-10T23:05:00.004+01:00

Saturday evening, I have a terrible cold and going out is not an option. It's still the week-end though, so I want to make something special for dinner. My boyfriend's late dash to our local fishmonger produces a few tiger prawns and some cockles, the remains of the stock for the day, long bagged by more organised people. Despite having run out of saffron and not owning a paella pan, I managed to rustle up a paella worthy of the name. After all, since there are so many variations of the dish and each area of Spain has its own, I believe I am allowed some creativity :-)

INGREDIENTS (3 - 4 people)

300 gr. of paella rice (I used arroz Calasparra)
70 gr. of chorizo sausage, finely sliced (I was given one as a present by my brother and his girlfriend, who recently went to Barcelona)
1 shallot
1 red chilli pepper
1 clove of garlic
8 tiger prawns
150 gr of cockles (deshelled)
1 courgette
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
Half a glass of dry white wine (or better, Spanish sherry or jerez if you have it)
Half a lemon
Two handful of chopped parsely
A sprig of thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to season

Start by prepping your prawns. Pull off the legs and heads, reserving the latter. Using a pair of kitchen scissors, cut along the edge of the prawn's inner shell, in order to make it easier to peel off when they'll be eaten. Now make a light fish stock: fill a small saucepan with water, add the carrot, the celery stick, a sprig of parsley and the prawn heads. Bring to the boil, let it simmer gently for about 20 minutes and strain just before using it.

Get a heavy cast-iron pan on the hob at a low heat, with a good glug of extra-virgin olive oil. Finely chop the shallot, garlic and chill and cook gently until soft; add the chorizo and let it sizzle for a few minutes, until nicely coloured.

Tip the rice in the pan and 'toast' it, which means let it soak up all the juices from the olive oil and the chorizo for one minute, stirring it with a wooden spoon to avoid it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the wine and once the alcohol has evaporated, the courgette (diced), the cherry tomatoes (halved), the thyme, some salt and pepper. Ladle the stock a bit at the time into the pan, delicately stirring the rice from time to time to prevent it from sticking, as you would do for risotto. Keep on repeating this exercise until the rice is cooked and all the liquid has been absorbed. If you run out of stock, feel free to use a bit of hot water.

Now, one of the thing I like the most about paella is the delicious golden and crunchy crust on top of the rice. How to obtain this without a paella pan? This is my solution: heat up your oven's grill and when the rice is cooked, tip it in a baking tin, drizzle it with a little olive oil and stick it under the grill for about 10 minutes, in order to allow the rice to develop a beautiful golden colour.

When ready, served sprinkled with fresh chopped parsley and a wedge of lemon.

American Pancakes

2010-04-10T17:16:00.025+01:00

I woke up to find the sun shining on a fine, April Saturday morning. What better way to start the week-end than making pancakes, I thought? I had a punnet of fresh strawberries, some milk and eggs in the fridge and all the other ingredients in the cupboard, so it took me absolutely no time to whip up this lovely breakfast. This is a quick, foolproof recipe that I urge you to try whenever you have company at the week-end. I guarantee it won't fail to make an impression!

INGREDIENTS (it'll make about 12 pancakes, enough for three people)

140 gr. plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of salt
10 gr. caster sugar
1 egg
250 ml semi-skimmed milk
To serve: your choice of fruit (I used strawberries but blueberries, sliced banana, raspberries etc. are all delicious) and maple syrup (or if you prefer golden syrup, honey, jam or dare I say - Nutella!)

Wash and dry your fruit, chop it up as necessary (if you are using the banana you may want to wait until the last minute to do this as it'll go dark otherwise) and put it on the side. If the fruit was stored in the fridge, this will give you time to bring it to room temperature and allow you to better taste its flavour. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Now add the egg and milk to the dry ingredients and whisk them all together by hand, just for 30 seconds or so. You should end up a batter of the consistency of double cream.
Heat a non stick pan on moderate heat with no oil, and when hot drop two tablespoons of batter (dropping the second one on top of the first one) in the pan. You will see many little crates appearing on the surface of the pancake; when it's nearly completely covered by these, it's time to flip it over! It should only take 1 minute/1 minute and a half.
Do this by using a spatula and wait for a further minute to allow the other side to cook properly. Then take it out of the pan and move on to making the next one! If you switch your oven to about 125° C, you can keep the pancakes you have already made nice and warm while you are cooking the other ones.
When done, you can take the pancakes, fruit and maple syrup to the table for everyone to build their own stack. This is how it goes for me: pancake, then fruit, then maple syrup - at least three layers, four if the engineering plans have been laid out well. Orange juice or fresh filter coffee wash these down well.

Spaghetti with Mussels

2010-04-09T22:05:00.006+01:00

Since this is my first post, I thought I'd start with something that is within my comfort zone. Being Italian, that means pasta! A nice plate of spaghetti with mussels is a beautiful thing made by a few simple ingredients; yet as for all the simple things, it is so easy to mess up. The countless times I had this dish and either the spaghetti was overcooked, or the sauce bland, or worst of all I found myself chewing on a gritty mouthful of pasta and...sand. This is a step by step demonstration that will show you how to create a simple, yet incredibly tasty, spaghetti with mussels.
INGREDIENTS (for two hungry people as a main, or four as a starter)

200 gr. of spaghetti (I normally use De Cecco)
1 Kg of fresh mussels, shell on
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil, a good glug
Half a glass of dry white wine (or champagne)
Half a tin of quality canned cherry tomatoes or about 200 gr of fresh ones, if in season
Finely chopped flat leaf parsely
Salt & pepper to season

First of all, you need to prep your mussels. You can do so by pulling the rope off each muscle and tapping them one by one. Put on the side the ones that haven't closed immediately. At the end, run the ones that are still open under the cold tap. If they still remain open, you must discard them as they are definitely dead, and possibly harmful.

Now put a medium sized saucepan (or one where all the mussels will fit in comfortably) on the hob, and tip your mussels in together with half a glass of water. Let them steam at moderate heat for about 4-5 minutes, shaking the pan a couple of times. When all the mussels have opened and turned orange (or yellow in some cases), turn the heat off and take each mussels out of its shell. I find that using a spoon helps! Strain the cooking liquid left at the bottom of the pan (being really careful not to include any sand) and reserve on the side. If you have a dinner party, you can make up to this step of the recipe in advance, then assemble the rest of the dish later.

Next, put the olive oil and chopped garlic in a wide, non stick pan at very low heat and let it soften, without browning it, for about 2 minutes. Add your mussels, their cooking liquid, the white wine (I used brut champagne, hence the foam in the picture!) and turn the heat up, until all the alcohol has bubbled away.

Add the tomatoes (if fresh, halve them. I used the Pachini quality, they are super-sweet and full of flavour), season with salt and pepper and let the sauce reduce, keeping the heat high. It should reduce to a half of its original quantity; don't let it thicken completely though, leave it a bit runny. I will explain why in the next step :-) It should take about 4-5 minutes. Once ready, turn the heat off and let it rest for a few minutes. Taste it again and season if necessary.

While the sauce is bubbling, cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions, however if it says you should cook them for 12 minutes, cook them for 10 instead. Once ready, drain them completely then tip them in the pan where the sauce is, turn the heat on full and sautée them for about 30 second, adding the parsley and stirring the sauce and the spaghetti continuously. The pasta will soak up all the juices and will finish cooking, retaining a beautiful 'al dente' consistency. Dish it up, sprinkle some more chopped parsley on top and serve immediately!!! Nothing spoils pasta like letting it sit around . And for heaven's sake, skip the cheese: fish pasta dishes and parmigiano is a no no. All the Italians know this. Now, you do, too ;-)