rhubarb birthday cake

I developed my love for rhubarb only recently.

Yesterday I made this cake for my friend's birthday.

Nothing amazing, made some mistakes...but what a joy!

that pinkness!!!!! 








the recipe is quite simple and consist of three main things: the pastry base, the filling and the rhubarb topping.
for the pastry i followed my mother's classic italian "pasta frolla" which is really a shortcrust pastry made with 200gr plain white flower, 100gr cold butter, 50gr sugar, 1 large egg, the rind of half un-waxed lemon. this kind of pastry needs to be worked up quickly and put to rest in the fridge, covered in cling film, for half hour. 
when ready lay on a 24cm dia round spring cake shape taking care to make  2cm high bi-folded borders all around (so that they can hold the filling). punch with a fork including the side borders, cover with oven paper, fill with dry beans and bake for around 20 minutes at 180 C, checking that the pastry does not become too brown but is cooked throughout.
the rhubarb topping is made by baking 4 large stalks of rhubarb chopped in 4cm pieces with a juiced orange and couple of spoons of sugar, until soft.
the filling it is made by mixing together 200gr thick double cream with 200gr quark cheese and 80gr icing sugar.
when these three elements are ready, and cooled, assemble the cake and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
enjoy.

panelle

As a pre-birthday treat I am preparing panelle for my friend.

Panelle are chickpeas flour fritters and they are a typical sicilian street food.

ingredients for 2:

100gr chickpeas flour

300gr/ml water

parsley

salt +pepper

method:

Mix the flour on a small pot with little water to form a smooth paste.

Keep on adding the remaining water little at time trying to avoid lumps.

Place on a low heat and stir continuously until the amalgam comes easily off the sides of the pot.

Add chopped parsley (a spoon) and season.

Smooth the paste to a thin layer onto 2 large wet (with water) plates.

Wait until it has cooled down, cut into squares or triangles and deep fry in very hot olive/veg oil.

Drain on kitchen paper.

Serve.

blossoms

mimmo

fiori senza birra per te!

my brother and I took on the same day 
very similar picture while waiting for the bus
him being a photographer managed a picture 
with a content. me without.

fishes

Yesterday was a day full of fishes:

in a salt crust

in ceramic

and in plastiline!

chicken and chickpeas for franci

My sister swears by the chicken and chickpeas recipe  that she got  from delia's frugal food.
Me being me, I have changed few bits (i.e. completely) adding some spices to it, marinating the chicken for 5 hours,and cooking the chickpeas and chicken together for 2 hours on a slow simmer.
For the marinade I have used nero d'avola red wine, pepper, paprika, nutmeg powder, cinanmon powder.
I have used 4 legs of pre-cut chicken, but you may want to buy a whole chicken and butcher it to pieces if you have the guts and the knives!
Chickpeas have been soaked for 5 hours*, same time as the chicken have been marinating.
Fry the towel-dried chicken (retain marinade) in a little oil + butter, remove from casserole.
Add 3 chopped onions to frying fat until lightly coloured...mine were red anyway...
Put chicken back into casserole together with a chicken stock cube, the drained and rinsed chickpeas, a small amount of tomato pure, the marinade and enough boiling water to cover the chicken and the chickpeas.
Bring to the boil, let it boil for 10 minutes, reduce to a slow simmer and cook partly covered for 2 hours or more...let you know about that later.
* ps: I think chickpeas should soak overnight.

physio and blossom

I had a very bad back problem last year 
and finally with the help of my physiotherapist 
I am recovering.
That's the small compartment where I do my physiotherapy.

And that's the cherry blossom on my way back.

lovely.

pan di spagna

I got this recipe from my late grandmother Olga.

It is however the basic recipe for the simple 

Italian sponge cake.

I have just made a very small cake right now,

as my brother has asked me to post some recipes.

It did taste exactly like my grandmother's one.

the look though was disaster!

I do need to buy  new tins for cakes.

for a 24cm (10cm high) tin

you will need

6 eggs

150 gr caster sugar

150 gr corn flour

1 tbsp baking powder.

method:

separate the yolks from the egg whites

and place in two bowls.

to avoid having to wash the electric whisker

first stiffen the egg whites to stiff peaks

(i.e. until when they do not fall down if you capsize the bowl)

set them aside

now mix the yolks with the sugar until the 2 ingredients will form a smooth light coloured paste.

combine the starch and the baking powder and sift to the egg-sugar mixture.

with a hand whisker or wooden spoon mix well to remove any lumps until smooth

now add 1/3 of the stiffened egg whites to loosen the mixture.

add the remaining 2/3 of egg whites in small doses with a upwards movement to incorporate more air into the mixture.

pour this mixture into the buttered and floured tin and bake covered for approx. 45 mins at 180 degrees C.

ps

I realized I had some ricotta cheese in the fridge and some expired marzipan in the cupboard

I transformed the pan di spagna in a cassata (typical sicilian cake).

The marzipan is golden...not the right look,yet again!!! :)

weekend

instead of dedicating my time to prepare nice/useful things
i have been out on a non -shopping trip. bought nothing.
had cake, wine fish.
saturday: patterns coming randomly together as one
sunday: drinks in beer-garden. it was sunny.

walking back

Another walk today. Albeit shorter. 
It was interesting to walk this route after such a long time.
Interesting flowers in the grass...
Spring has come! 7km

my new ipod diary

I will try to post a daily update of my ipod diary.
I started during the last holiday to doodle 
what I saw around me or what I imagined when reality 
was a bit stuck. Of course this is only the beginning
and I hope I can keep you posted (carlo, guglia, mimmo)
with improved and more descriptive images in the near future.

walk trough the city

Today I didn't actually make anything...yet.
But I did this walk.
I'm now exhausted.
11.5km

art..or so

Another passion that I can pursue now that I have more time is painting.
If i can call it painting...

This one posted here it's an old one actually.

it is of my brother in his 'atelier'.

what made me start again

The first thing I decided was worth putting some culinary effort in has been chinese pork dumplings.

On a sunday afternoon I set to make them and I must say they are pretty easy to make, but a bit more challenging is to let them stay perfect after cooking.

I even caused myself an incredible burn while steaming them :(

Nevertheless I was satisfied with the result!

Super yummy

yesterday dinner

            

I have started cooking again, probably it is just the spare time that i now have 

after having lost my job, but i am happy about it (the cooking i mean).

Delicious things are coming out again from my tiny kitchen. 

Later on I will then post the recipes for them.

at the moment pictures only of :

spicy mince beef with sesame, rice-noodles and green beans 

rhubarb, mandarin pistachio jelly

second attempt at blogging...

Here on this blog I will be posting things I made.

something useful, something beautiful, something just for discussion.

love

paola