Beef Carpaccio with Rocket Pesto and Parmesan Cream

This week I will present some very simple recipes that are amongst my favorites when I need to prepare quickly something tasty for lunch. I know I hurt many vegan readers, but I like raw meat. I apologize but I cannot resist a good quality beef carpaccio. The following recipe shows how I usually prepare it: if there's one thing I hate in beef carpaccio with rocket and Parmesan cheese, as it is usually served in restaurants, is that I have to "chase" the dressing all around the plate while I cut the meat. And always the same taste ... boring!

Ingredients for 2 servings: ½ lb. raw beef carpaccio, 1 cup rocket (arugula), 1 and ½ oz. cream cheese, 1/5 cup pine nuts, ½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, 2 shallots, pepper, salt, olive oil.

Preparation: we prepare the rocket pesto first. Put the rocket, the pine nuts and a tablespoon of oil in a mortar and pound till minced adding oil if needed. Pour in the cheese cream and a pinch of salt and continue to pound until the mixture will become creamy. Put the pesto away and wash the mortar, then pour in the chopped shallots, the Parmesan cheese and one tablespoon of oil. Pound well then add a bit of cracked pepper. Continue to pound again, adding a little oil if needed, until smooth. Lay the meat on a plate and sprinkle with salt and ground pepper to your taste. Pour over the cream and the pesto, keeping them separate, drizzle with a bit of oil and serve.

September 2009 Desktop Calendar

Starting from this month I'll offer to the readers of this blog a desktop calendar, alas a wallpaper for your PC screen with a food photo and the calendar of the current month.
In the calendar for September I chose the photo of "Roast Apricots with Provençal Herbs" whose recipe you can found in this post.
To set the image as your desktop click on the link at the end of this post with the image dimensions that suit your PC screen and, after the image will load, right-click on it with your mouse (or press ctrl while clicking for some Mac users) and select "Set as Desktop Background..." (or something similar depending on the web browser you're using).

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Cold Irish Cocktail

Yesterday a storm finally brought down the temperature to an acceptable level. Therefore, thanks to the cool weather, I recovered the desire to prepare something alcoholic. This cocktail is actually a long drink, but I preferred to remove from the recipe the soda water which, in my opinion, dilute the taste too much. I also like to serve it still warm (thanks to the coffee) on ice, especially in colder seasons.

Ingredients for a drink: 1/3 oz. Crème de Cacao White liqueur, 1 and 1/3 oz. Irish Whiskey, 2/3 oz. Irish Mist (or use an additional 2/3 os. of Irish Whiskey and half a coffee spoon of liquid honey), 1 and 2/3 oz. strong coffee (italian espresso), 2/3 oz. fresh cream.

Preparation: put in a tumbler glass (or in a large goblet) two ice cubes, pour (build) the ingredients in the order as listed above and stir gently.

Croque Monsieur à la Émilien

I ask your pardon for the post I missed, but the recipe that I prepared for Wednesday was fine but not fully convincing, it needs further testing and some improvements.
Today however I submit this one without fear because I'm devouring it as I'm writing now. While I traveled through France I ate a couple of these typical sandwich but I had never thought to prepare them once at home. Then some days ago I find one of the many recipes to prepare them and I realized that, even with a thousand variations, its main ingredients are grated Gruyère cheese, ham and béchamel. "Corbezzoli!" I thought "but it seems a recipe from Emilia. If only they'd use Parmesan cheese and prosciutto it may be called Croque Sgnàur (Monsieur, alas Sir, in dialect of Bologna ehehe)". So why not try to use these two ingredients in place of the originals?

Ingredients for 2 sandwiches: 4 slices of white bread without crust, 2 slices of prosciutto, ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, 2 and ½ oz. of butter, 1/3 cup of flour, ½ cup of milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg.

Preparation: sprinkle two slices of bread with half of the Parmesan, place on top of each one a slice of prosciutto, trying to keep it within the edges, and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Close the sandwich with other two slices of bread and squeeze it well. Beat the egg and soak inside the sandwich. Melt 1 and ½ oz. of butter in a large frying pan and when it is hot, brown the sandwiches inside. Then prepare the béchamel sauce: melt over low heat the remaining ounce of butter, pour in gradually the flour using a sieve, so not to form lumps, stirring constantly. When the mixture begins to brown add milk, previously warmed, little by little, stirring constantly. When the sauce starts to get creamy, add two pinches of salt and grate in pepper and nutmeg according to your taste. Spread the sauce over each of the two sandwich and put them in the oven to grill for 3-4 minutes until the béchamel browns completely. Serve them hot.

Watermelon Jelly with Chocolate and Yogurt

This weekend was expected a drop in the weather temperature. I already prepared to finally turn the oven on to cook but if it would have been cooler, here in Bologna, it should just by some degrees. In fact, even now at nighttime, I have the fan switched on. So I trashed in the bin all my "oven-related" recipes and I started to think what I could prepare as dessert for my tomorrow lunch. The fact that it was Sunday and I had very few things left in the refrigerator, including a watermelon and a some yogurt, helped me to finalize my research and a couple of recipes using watermelon finally came to my mind. I tried to sum them up into one with a little of variations.

Ingredients for about 4 servings: 4 and ½ lb. of chopped watermelon pulp, sugar (see recipe), pectin (see recipe), 2 teaspoons of grounded cinnamon, 3 cups of whole milk yogurt, 4 teaspoons of orange blossom essence, 2 tablespoon of sugar, 3 and ½ oz. of 100% cocoa chocolate, 1 tablespoon of butter, some almond granules.

Preparation: clean the watermelon pulp from the seeds, grind it to puree, add pectin as instructed by the manufacturer (usually just less than 1 ounce per pound) and cinnamon. Pour the puree into a pan with a thick bottom and begin to simmer. Pour the sugar gradually, again following the pectin manufacturer's instructions. Usually the weight is equal to the one of the fruits, but I used a pectin that needed a third of it. Bring the mixture to a boil, removing any foam. Boil from 3 to 15 minutes, again depending on the type of pectin you are using, and then pour the mixture into 4 short glasses, half filling them. Whip the yogurt (I use Greek one, but the choice is upon you) adding two tablespoons of sugar and the orange blossom essence. When it is well mixed pour it into the four glasses stopping at about half an inch from the brim. Melt the chocolate with the butter cooking it bain-marie. When it becomes creamy pour it on top of the glasses and decorate them with the almonds granules. Put the glasses in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours before serving them cold.

Yogurt and Spiced Mixed Berries

Today weather here reached the maximum temperature of over 100F and not only the desire to cook, but also my appetite, fell almost completely down, for the joy of my dietician who will unfairly claim credit for this.
I then want something quick to prepare, that didn't need too much cooking but with a fresh taste: I'm presenting what came to my mind.

Ingredients for 4 servings: 3 and 1/3 cups of mixed berries (fresh or frozen), 2 cups of whole milk yogurt, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

Preparation wash the berries under running water and remove any stems or leaves. Take half of them and chop in a kitchen robot. Sieve through a strainer and pour in a saucepan together with sugar and spices. Cook on medium heat until it reaches the density of a syrup. Remove the syrup from the heat but keep it warm. Prepare four cups with yogurt, and arrange over them the remaining berries, then pour over the warm syrup. Serve accompanied with some crisp biscuits or waffles. If you substitute half of the yogurt with the same quantity of whipped cream and let rest in the freezer for some hours, you can prepare an ice-creamy dessert.

Rum and Pineapple Crushed Ice

I do not know you what it's happening to you, but in the last two days I'm melting like an ice cream under the sun. The desire to cook, usually already low in the summer, is completely vanished, and I also believe this is the same for many of you. I would only eat fresh stuff, possibly even iced. So I looked for something that could do the job, something that could also be "sweet and tasty", but at the same time suited to the hot temperature of these days. This recipe, found on a book by Donna Hay, immediately intrigued me mostly because I had some pineapple juice in the refrigerator (otherwise quite empty, I must confess). I also had the other ingredients, the recipe is fresh, frozen actually, some changes here and there to the recipe and let's prepare it!

Ingredients for 2 servings 3/5 cup of cane sugar, 2 (rife) cups of pineapple juice (100% fruit and unsweetened), 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, about 7 tablespoons of rum (the golden one type preferably), half cup of whipped cream.

Preparation: pour the sugar in the pineapple juice and put on medium heat, stirring until it is completely melted. Remove from heat and add rum and vanilla. Stir well again and pour the mixture into a wide and shallow container and put it in the freezer. Let it rest for several hours, at least 3 with the temperature of these days. Check that it is forming ice in which case stir a bit the mixture. Do the same thing every hour for at least another 2-3 hours, the result must be an iced mixture but still enough liquid to be poured. When you feel that it is ready, pour the mixture into a pair of ice cold glasses and let them into the freezer until you serve. Before bringing to the table, remember to add on top of some whipped cream.

P.S.: I'm a complete disaster using the sac a poche... fine, I'm a photographer and not a cook, but I'd like to learn to use it a bit more, any advices?

Rettangolo 2

Rettangolo 1

Coffee Parfait

Ok, it's hot. So no oven. Also reading is hard, then I immediately go to the ingredients and the preparation of this simple dessert of French origin. Yes, it is also too hot to write!

Ingredients for 4 servings: 2 and 1/3 cups of confectioner's sugar, 8 egg yolks, 3 and 1/8 cups of double cream, 4 small cups of coffee (preferably espresso, strong coffee anyway), grounded almonds.

Preparation: take 3 bowls: put in one the sugar and add the coffee, mixing until it becomes a syrup; in the second beat the egg yolks until they become frothy; in the third whip the cream until solid. When ready gently pour the egg yolks into the coffee syrup, continuing to stir with a whisk, and when they are well-blended add the cream. Pour the mixture into one or more molds, previously greased, and put in freezer for at least 6 hours. To serve, dip the mold till its its edge in water at room temperature, then overturned it on the serving dish and sprinkle the dessert with the grounded almonds before serving.

Food Photography: the Lighting

One of the most beautiful things, that internet and "social networking" brought us, is the huge amount of information that are available just searching the net or asking to our "net friends".

A few times I answered on how to photograph food, but often the question is "Is better camera x or y?"

Not that the choice of camera is unimportant. But once you avoid the compact "point and shoot" cameras which are beautiful, but suitable just for some photos of friends or for holiday, any digital modern SLR camera that's on the market is perfectly suitable for taking pictures of food, just like the old film based SLR cameras.

The most important thing in photography is light, and food shooting is no exception. I have already written on this subject in a couple of posts: here and here. Further information can be also found in this post that I wrote with my friend Paoletta on her blog Anice & Cannella.

Today I also want to share a link to a very well written post on this subject, written by my friend Thorsten, a German food photographer, who explains very well what he uses and how, as well as other useful advice for anyone who want to take pictures of food. It is really worth the read: Find your Light.

We'll meet tomorrow with a recipe that is resting in the refrigerator right now.

Tuiles

A few days ago the postman delivered me box that contained the last books I ordered thorugh Amazon. Among these one was about French cuisine and while I eagerly started to browse it, I stopped by, intrigued, on some cookies, or so they seemed, with a strange but fascinating shape. I continued reading the recipe and I had the confirmation that I should absolutely try to cook them, but I wasn't too much convinced about a couple of ingredients. Thanks God there is internet, and so I knew for certain that some ingredients have to be changed (peanut oil ... we European use butter!) and others added (Grand Marnier). So what I propose to you today is, in my opinion, the best and, at least for my palate, the most tasty version of these cookies! They also can be eaten alone or accompanied with tea, with ice cream or with other frozen desserts, one of which will be the subject in my next posts.

Ingredients for about 12 cookies: ¼ cup sugar, ½ cup ground almonds, ½ oz. plain flour, 1/3 oz. butter, 2 egg whites, 1 teaspoons of Grand Marnier (or other dry orange liqueur).

Preparation: beat the whites until they become foamy, then add, continuing to whisk, sugar, flour, almonds, the butter, melted, and the liqueur. Heat the oven to 400 F. Cover with baking paper a oven tray and place heaped teaspoons of mixture, spreading them with the back of the spoon forming thin circles. Be careful to leave at least 3/4 of an inch of space between each from the other. Put the tray in the oven and cook from 6 to 10 minutes until the cookies will be lightly golden. Lift them from the tray and, while they're still warm, wrap them around a rolling pin (or a bottle or glass) to give them the traditional curled shape.

Farro Grain Tagliatelle with Shallot and "Strolghino" Sauce

Let me start this post explaining what "strolghino" is because, for those who are not from Emilia, probably is completely unknown. This type of soft salami is a specialty of Parma and is produced by the lean scraps of "Culatello di Zibello", a type of ham made with selected pigs and with a particular making. Its name comes from the dialectal word "strolga", that means "wizard". This because it was used to foresee the seasoning of the more precious ham.
The sauce that I propose, therefore, uses this salami that, being very soft and lends, is easy to be grounded, and fresh shallots. It was actually an experiment, derived by an onion sauce that I tasted, but I must say that it was particularly successful. The scent of this sauce soaked my house and continuously brings me to break my diet all the time, damn!

Ingredients for 4 servings: 1 and 1/10 lbs. of farro grain tagliatelle (in this post the instructions how to prepare them), 9/10 lb. of fresh shallots, ½ lb. of strolghino salami, 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce, a tablespoon of shortening, a cup of broth, pepper, Parmesan cheese.

Preparation: melt the shortening in an earthenware pan, add the shallots, finely chopped, and a couple of tablespoons of broth. Cook on very low heat, gradually adding the rest of the broth until shallots wilt without frying or burning. Then add two tablespoons of tomato sauce and the strolghino salami, coarsely grounded. Continue to cook slowly until also the salami begin to dry up. Meanwhile cook the tagliatelle in abundant salted water for about 5-6 minutes, or until they are cooked enough inside (taste them!). Drain and season with the hot sauce and sprinkle the dish with plenty of grated Parmesan cheese.

Farro Grain Tagliatelle

What I propose today is not precisely a recipe but more an idea, obviously stolen around (and therefore also tested successfully), tagliatelle made from farro flour instead than from the normal wheat.
Farro grain (some people says spelt is the same, but some other says it isn't) is the "father" of all the kinds of grain, this was the grain that was used for millennia in the Mediterranean and became the standard food of the Roman army. Centuries passed and other types of wheat, best yielding, replaced the cultivation of farro grain and only recently it has come back again on our plates, mainly because, as there are very few crops in comparison to its "grandchildren", is associated with an idea of genuineness, as well as having a distinctly different flavor.

The ingredients for these tagliatelle are the usual ones, 1 egg per about every cup of flour. To make tagliatelle that resist better to boiling I replaced 20% of farro flour with durum wheat, but you can use even less, or nothing, you just have to be very careful to check when they are cooked;)

The preparation is the same for making sheets of egg pasta: pile the flour with a hole in the middle where you put the eggs and start kneading. A tip, wet your hands often, it helps a lot. When the dough is well mixed put it down on a floured wooden plane, and start spreading it with a rolling pin until you have a very thin sheet, just thicker than a nail. Then make the sheet regular, cutting away the excess dough, roll it for the short side and cut with a knife, at about every half an inch. The rolls of pasta must be open, floured again, and if you do not have to cook them right away, laid out to dry on a line for some minutes not lettime them become too dry (though not terribly bad happens, it's just that the pasta becomes very fragile ).

By the end of this week I'll post a recipe for a sauce to season these tagliatelle, but they can also be used in all the recipes instead of the "traditional" ones.

Nördlingen Cathedral

Today hot weather calmed down at last and I managed to start preparing the recipe I want to present tomorrow.
While waiting for it I wanna show you another "travel" shot: Nördlingen is a beautiful city in Bavaria, located on the "Romantische Straße" between Augsburg and Würzburg. It still has completely established medieval city walls and many buildings of historical and artistic interest, including the St.George Cathedral, whose interior is depicted in the picture above.

Dolomiti - Passo Sella

I confess, considering the heat of yesterday I hadn't the courage to take out the pans and prepare the recipe that I had in mind.
To apologize for my climatic cowardice I'm posting one of the shots I took during my recent trip between Trentino, Austria and Germany which I'm gradually scanning.
I'm waiting you in the forthcoming days to talk about food and not just photography, hoping that the weather will cool a bit here.