Chop the dates and mix will the olive oil, lemon juice, cilantro,
parsley and salt and pepper. If you want you can add a small amount of minced garlic.
I have had this Julia Child picture, framed and hanging on my wall for years. It makes me smile, it reminds me to slow down, and it’s a delightful prompt for someone like me who has a bit of a hard time asking for help.
“Back to School” is one of those times I wish I had a team of professional handlers, shadowing me and making my life just a little less muddy. I don’t. Therefore the last couple of weeks have been, more or less, hell and spent arming the whole family with new soccer shoes, tennis outfits, cellos, violins and let’s not forget, discovering the virtues of my new favorite, Mode Podge Glue and did I mention consulting about new cute outfits?
I also have had to organize 2 birthday’s celebrations, inclusive of multi-layered, glittery cakes, I have been at one open house, a welcome back coffee, I had a drum stick drama and I worked on a lengthy time line project. I cannot wait for week 3 in September.
I have commiserated with many of the parents and apparently I’m not the only one with these kinds of issues. Generally speaking back to school is a war zone for all.
One place where I do better than the organizational inferno of my kids closets and their activities, it’s the kitchen. My pantry is ready to go and my fridge and freezers are stocked up for lunches, snacks, dinners and post games hunger freak-outs—I didn’t know, before becoming a mother and a wife, men turn in to famished werewolves immediately after sport practice.
Furthermore, since I suspect, you are like me at home and don’t employ a swarm of chefs and pot washers ready to chop, prep and clean at your command, I thought you might enjoy learning about my 5 favorite, ready to go meals and pantry helpers that make my life easier and my dinners more enjoyable.
Roasted Tomatoes Sauce– It’s a simple, healthy, quick but brilliant way to make a tomatoes sauce. The full power, garlicky flavor and the smooth consistency make it a perfect versatile companion for pastas , soups and a phenomenal base for sauces and stews. I make it in large batches and freeze it in my latest obsession, stand alone ziplock bags.
Bolognese- We all have a bolognese recipes. This is my version and It reminds me of home. My kids know the taste so well by now, if I change the recipe even by one ingredient they complain. It’s a slow cooked project I usually do once a months on a weekend. I like to lace a mix of equal parts of double ground veal, pork and beef with a small amount of cumin and nutmeg and once it’s cooked and cooled I freeze it in pre weighted portions. I use it on pasta, rice, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, polenta or semolina.
Olive Oil Frozen Herbs- This is my favorite last minute flavor trick and a great way to preserve all the herbs I grow in summer. I wash, dry and chop finely my leafy herbs like basil, parsley, cilantro and tarragon. I put them in ice cube containers packing at least half of the cube and cover them with good olive oil. I then freeze them, pop them out and keep them in ziplock bags ready to use in sauces and sautés. Read more about Olive Oil in my sharing corner post about Alina Lawrence, she is the fab owner of Olivette.
End of Summer Minestrone-I make huge pots of this healthy and hearty minestrone. It’s loaded with beans and good vegetables. I add cooked orzo, barley, pasta or rice and finish it with parmesan and crispy pancetta for a full power one dish meal.
Mashed Potatoes for the week-I keep a container of home made mashed potatoes in the fridge. They last for a good 5 to 7 days. They are a smart and efficient way to produce a meal in less than 10 minutes. Just add bolognese, cheese, a fried egg, peas and bacon, sausages for a cozy dinner or use them to top left over stews, grilled salmon, or really what ever you have in the fridge, sprinkle them with a mix of cheddar and parmesan, then brown them under the broiler for a couple of minutes.
So welcome back to school with an empathizing nod to all of you trying to get a last minutes cello delivered to your door!
Halve the tomatoes and arrange them in an oven proof dish lined with parchment. I like them tightly packed but not on top of each other.
Season with the salt, drizzle the olive oil evenly. Scatter the garlic and basil on the tomatoes.
Roast for 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and lightly charred. Pass through a sieve or a food mill and discard the seeds and the skins. Use immediately as a great pasta sauce or preserve in zip lock bags and freeze.
Recipe Notes
The seeds and skin of the tomatoes are best removed as they can cause allergies and irritate the stomach.
Tomatoes cook and taste better if the pepper is added after cooking.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini — I make meat sauce every week. It's our to-go meal. We use it on pasta, veggies, polenta and mashed potatoes. I like to mix veal, pork and beef and I slow cook it for a couple of hours.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini — I make meat sauce every week. It's our to-go meal. We use it on pasta, veggies, polenta and mashed potatoes. I like to mix veal, pork and beef and I slow cook it for a couple of hours.
1 bouquet garnitie bay leaves, parsley, rosemary, basil, thyme together
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil
Servings: people
Instructions
Warm a couple of table spoon of olive oil in a large heavy bottom pan. Add onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until soft but not browned. Add prosciutto/mortadella and keep cooking for an extra 10 minutes on a low flame. Rise the heat to medium high add veal, pork and beef. Cook stirring occasionally until browned.
Add wine, cook the alcohol out for a couple of minutes on a low the flame.
Season with a sprinkle of nutmeg, cumin, salt and pepper. Add tomato concentrate and cook for a couple of minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, stock and the bouquet garni.
Cook on slow heat for at a couple of hours or until the sauce is nicely reduced and compact. Taste for seasoning and discard the herbs before serving or freezing.
1bunchkale leaves or large spinachcleaned and deveined
2mediumzucchinicubed
2cupsgreen beans sliced in small sections
salt and pepper
1bouquet garnitie together rosemary, parsley, thyme, 1 bay leaf
Servings: people
Instructions
Warm olive the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Add garlic, onions, celery and carrots . Cook 3 to 5 minutes to soften. Add the bacon or pancetta and crisp.
Stir in the beans. Stew slowly for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock and bouquet garland season. Add the parmesan rind.
Bring to a boil and slow simmer for 25-30 minutes until soft vegetable are soft.
Remove from heat. Discard the bouquet garni and parmesan rind and with an immersion blender whiz to a chunky consistency. YOu can also use a blender or a food processor.
Return the soup to the pot on a medium/slow heat and add remaining
vegetables. Cook for 15/ 20 minutes. The vegetables should be cooked but with a bit a of a bite.
Serve warm or room temperature. Garnish with pesto, crunchy pancetta, a grain and some parsley.
Recipe Notes
Freeze before adding kale, beans and zucchini for up to 6 months.
Halve the tomatoes and arrange them in an oven proof dish lined with parchment. I like them tightly packed but not on top of each other.
Season with the salt, drizzle the olive oil evenly. Scatter the garlic and basil on the tomatoes.
Roast for 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and lightly charred. Pass through a sieve or a food mill and discard the seeds and the skins. Use immediately as a great pasta sauce or preserve in zip lock bags and freeze.
Recipe Notes
The seeds and skin of the tomatoes are best removed as they can cause allergies and irritate the stomach.
Tomatoes cook and taste better if the pepper is added after cooking.
1bunchkale leaves or large spinachcleaned and deveined
2mediumzucchinicubed
2cupsgreen beans sliced in small sections
salt and pepper
1bouquet garnitie together rosemary, parsley, thyme, 1 bay leaf
Servings: people
Instructions
Warm olive the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Add garlic, onions, celery and carrots . Cook 3 to 5 minutes to soften. Add the bacon or pancetta and crisp.
Stir in the beans. Stew slowly for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock and bouquet garland season. Add the parmesan rind.
Bring to a boil and slow simmer for 25-30 minutes until soft vegetable are soft.
Remove from heat. Discard the bouquet garni and parmesan rind and with an immersion blender whiz to a chunky consistency. YOu can also use a blender or a food processor.
Return the soup to the pot on a medium/slow heat and add remaining
vegetables. Cook for 15/ 20 minutes. The vegetables should be cooked but with a bit a of a bite.
Serve warm or room temperature. Garnish with pesto, crunchy pancetta, a grain and some parsley.
Recipe Notes
Freeze before adding kale, beans and zucchini for up to 6 months.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini — I make meat sauce every week. It's our to-go meal. We use it on pasta, veggies, polenta and mashed potatoes. I like to mix veal, pork and beef and I slow cook it for a couple of hours.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini — I make meat sauce every week. It's our to-go meal. We use it on pasta, veggies, polenta and mashed potatoes. I like to mix veal, pork and beef and I slow cook it for a couple of hours.
1 bouquet garnitie bay leaves, parsley, rosemary, basil, thyme together
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil
Servings: people
Instructions
Warm a couple of table spoon of olive oil in a large heavy bottom pan. Add onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until soft but not browned. Add prosciutto/mortadella and keep cooking for an extra 10 minutes on a low flame. Rise the heat to medium high add veal, pork and beef. Cook stirring occasionally until browned.
Add wine, cook the alcohol out for a couple of minutes on a low the flame.
Season with a sprinkle of nutmeg, cumin, salt and pepper. Add tomato concentrate and cook for a couple of minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, stock and the bouquet garni.
Cook on slow heat for at a couple of hours or until the sauce is nicely reduced and compact. Taste for seasoning and discard the herbs before serving or freezing.
The next few weeks are far too hot for you to get flustered in your kitchen. I have rustled together 50 easy meals, you can prepare in 20 minutes or less! Simple dishes, which look and taste sensational. Add crusty bread, a salad and you’ll have the perfect summer dish – which will have the wow factor and look like you have been slaving over the stove for hours! Less time in the kitchen and more time at the beach. Which Is where I’m writing from.
Here they are:
Cook pasta in boiling water. Add some chopped tomatoes, grated pecorino, spinach and toasted pine-nuts to a serving bowl. Toss with some good olive oil. Drain the pasta. Mix with all the ingredients and a spoon of the cooking water. Finish with cracked pepper and olive oil.
Frittata. Beat 4 eggs. Add some parmesan, salt, pepper chopped herbs, pancetta and fontina cheese cubes. Cook on medium slow for 5 minutes. Turn using a plate, put back in the pan and finish cooking for a couple of minutes.
Drench 4 sole fillet in flour, season. Cook quickly in a hot pan with melted butter, turning once. Squeeze one lemon, add parsley. This is my son ultimate dinner.
Season 4 beef fillet. Cook on both sides for 4 minutes. Set aside. Add some good red wine or port or cherry to the pan, a pat of butter and reduce for 3 to 4 minutes on high. Serve on the side of the rested fillets.
Boil 4 large potatoes till fork tener. Peel and serve with lots of chopped toppings.
Drain the oil from a can of good tuna . Add to a pan with olives and tomatoes. Cook spaghetti al dente. Drain. Add to the tuna with a handful of bread crumbs, parsley and chopped basil. drizzle with olive oil.
Slice a good melon. serve with prosciutto, bread, fresh ricotta and honey.
Make a smoked salmon platter. Serve with toasted white bread, lemon, capers, sliced tomatoes.
Cut 4 hot dogs on both sides but leave them in one piece. Sauté for a couple of minutes in a hot pan with a teaspoon of olive oil, until the curl up. Served with mashed potatoes and condiments
Slice peaches in half and pit them. Quickly grill them in a pan. Put side up on plates add some greens and some good burrrata.
Add a pack of 10 minutes barley grains to 2 cups of good stock. Add peas, and a potato peeled and cubed, thyme and cook until the stock is absorbed. Serve with a good hard cheese and a salad.
Sautee trout fillet in brown butter 4 to 5 minutes per side. Meanwhile cook baby fingerling potatoes in salted water. Drain, smash lightly with a fork, add basil and black olives.
Cook soba noodles, then rinse in cold water until cool. Serve in a broth, with some chopped steamed vegetables and with a splash of sauce of soy sauce and minced ginger. Add soft boiled eggs.
Lisetta quick Paella. Sauté, cubed chicken in a pan with diced onions and dices red pepper. Add saffron, season. Add 6 handfuls of arborio rice, toast for 2 minutes, add half a glass of wine, 2 cups chicken broth. Cook until the broth is absorbed about 15 minutes. You can add some chorizo, clams or shrimps. Finish with parsley.
Cook some brown rice. Boil cleaned shrimps for a couple of minutes. Cut up some baby bok choy, brown it for a couple of seconds in a hot pan with sesame oil, minced garlic and minced ginger. Turn add 1/2 cup soy sauce and reduce. Spoon bok choy and shrimps on cooked rice.
Sautee’ 1 large cubed eggplant in olive oil and garlic for 5 minutes, add 3 fresh cubed tomato, one cup tomatoes sauce, salt pepper and basil. Add short pasta to salted, boiling water. Cook for 8/ 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the sauce. Drain the pasta, mix with the eggplants, serve with grated, salted hard ricotta cheese.
Ceviche! Get some very fresh Scallops, tuna, salmon or swordfish. Slice thinly, arrange on plates, sprinkle with lime and lemon juice, salt, pepper chilies and parsley. Serve after 5 minutes with sliced avocados and a crunchy taco.
Put a can of drained chickpeas in a pan add olive oil, sumac, basil, grounded coriander seeds, cook for 5 minutes, add some leafy greens cook down, add feta. Season well.
Grill or toast some good baguette until crispy, drizzle olive oil, add some sliced Gruyere, add parma cotto prosciutto, melt under the broiler for a minute or 2, close, press well, enjoy!
Drain a can of cannellini beans or butter beans into a big bowl, add some good tuna in olive oil and dress with chopped parsley, red onion, salt, red vinegar and a touch more oil.
Make fresh pesto. Fill up blender with washed basil, parsley, a handful of pine nuts, a little garlic, grated parmesan, salt and pepper. Drizzle with a half cup of good quality olive oil and blend. You can substitute walnuts for the pine nuts or even pistachios. Dress your favorite cooked pasta.
Pan grill a skirt steak for 4 to 5 minutes per side, season with salt and pepper, rest for 5 minutes, slice over greens and drizzle with balsamic.
Boil lobsters for 11 minutes, corn on the cob for 6 minutes – serve both with butter and lemon.
Poach eggs for 3 minutes or soft boil for 6 – serve over wilted spinach and crusty bread.
Sauté garlic in olive oil and a bit of hot pepper, don’t burn. Dress cooked spaghetti – finish with pepper, grated parmesan and chopped parsley.
Stir fry some fresh peeled shrimps in olive oil, garlic and ginger until pink. Season with salt pepper and chopped cilantro. Squeeze a lime and serve over cooked rice or steamed vegetables.
Warm up some curry powder in olive oil till fragrant, deglaze with a little cream. Use to dress long think pasta. Finish with pepper and lots of chopped parsley. Add cooked chicken, shrimps lobster or crab.
Steam a big bag of scrubbed mussels until they open in a pot with some white wine, lots of garlic, chopped celery and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Use Pernod instead of wine and fennel, or vodka, thyme and chopped tomatoes. Serve with LOTS of bread.
Fry left over rice from your Chinese take out with chopped vegetables, onion, garlic, grated ginger. Dress with soy sauce and, sesame oil, cilantro. Add a fried egg on top.
Make a quick bolognese – with ground beef, chopped onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Deglaze with some wine, add a can of tomatoes and cook down for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and a hint of cumin. Spoon over a bake potato, pasta, grilled eggplants. Substitute beef with ground lamb or pork.
Quickly grill thin lamb chops 4 minutes for side. Season with salt pepper and chopped rosemary and mint. Whiz up a quick aioli using mayonnaise and garlic in a blender.
Cook all sorts of evenly chopped vegetables in water till al dente. Season well, add some cooked pasta, olive oil and a spoon of pesto. Minestrone it is!
Sear salmon covered with Teriyaki sauce for a couple of minutes per side. Serve over brown rice.
Render some good, cubed pancetta in a pan – add a drained can of chickpeas or large white beans, lots of chopped parsley. Season with salt pepper and smoked paprika. Add manchengo and bacon.
Quickly sear a sliced pork fillet in a pan with olive oil, a little garlic and some cut figs or prunes. Season well – remove pork and deglaze pan with some port or sweet sherry. Cook down for a minute of two and pour over pork.
Scramble fresh eggs. Pan fry some good mushrooms. Season well. Add lots of parsley and some sliced tomatoes.
Steam broccoli till fork tender. Sauté some seasoned filet mignon strips in olive oil. Finish with soy sauce, lots of chopped herbs and a squeeze of lemon. Serve over rice or soba noodles.
Make six-minute eggs: simmer gently, run under cold water until cool, then peel. Serve over steamed asparagus.
Cook some lentils till soft. Drain. Add herbs, some goat cheese and spinach. Drizzle olive oil, a spoon of pistachio oil and some balsamic. Add some toasted pistachios.
Slice some good mozzarella cheese and put in between 2 slices of soy white bread. Dip in beaten egg, then coat with bread crumbed seasoned. Fry till golden brown on both sides. Serve with fresh tomatoes and sliced cucumbers.
Slice 2 eggplants very finely. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and oregano. Broil on high on both sides until brown. Sprinkle with goat cheese or feta and broil for a couple of seconds.
Dredge sliced chicken breast in flour. Cook on both sides in olive oil. Serve with good bread, lemon and some mayo.
Chop a tuna steak, add some soy and chopped cilantro and make burgers. Grill quickly and serve on a toasted sesame bun with wasabi mayo.
Boil 4 years of corn. Boil 4 kielbasa. Slice and serve with hot mustard.
Slice zucchini and sauté for 7 to 8 minutes in a hot pan with olive oil. Add chopped mint. Make thin omelets and serve together.
Steam some cous cous. Pan fry cubed chicken with some chopped tomatoes, olives and basil. Add cumin powder, salt and pepper.
Panzanella. Chop tomatoes, dress with olive oil, red wine vinegar salt and pepper. Add cubed one day old bred and toss. Serve with sardines and butter.
Put some asparagus in a foil pouch with olive oil, crushed and minced garlic, salt pepper and parsley. Cook in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. Meanwhile grill a flank stake for 5 minutes per side and after resting for about 7 minutes slice and serve with asparagus.
Cut a baguette. Add slices of brie on both sides and broil until the cheese is melting and bubbly. Serve with sliced tomatoes and cured black olives.
Even before becoming a chef I have been loyal and I confess, obsessed with one and only magazine. I own every issue of this magazine, since its inception in 1994, and I often refer to it as the cooking bible. The precious object of my gastronomic fantasies is Saveur.
Saveur magazine just does it for me. It’s food porn at its best, but classy; it retains an aura of old world, an highbrow tone and an authentic love for wordily cuisine, the photographs are always elegantly real, the writing is impeccable and the recipes are infallible.
So this week, as I was invited by the digital editor in to the test kitchen to make summer fruit pies and jams for a series of videos, I felt extremely honored and even dare I say it, a little kinky. Just imagine. I got to make my own food porn in the reverend kitchen.
Of course, I had a lovely day, not only because I got to fulfill one of my long-time fantasies but also because I uncovered a beautiful truth and the reason why Saveur is so noble.
The graceful team that makes the magic happen, composed by editors, photographers, and food testers, is as food obsessed as I am, and truly dedicated to create perfection in the test kitchen and for the magazine.
The Saveur Team and My Dream Kitchen
So once I settled in to my area and after a brief but succulent moment of reflection on how lucky I am to have left advertising, I happily got to work on my fruit pies.
Making pies and jams is a clever way to investigate and capture all the sweetness of summer fruits and since I had stopped to shop for my ingredients at the Westport farmers market, I arrived in the kitchen with a beautiful bounty from all the local farms.
We decided to work with yellow and white peaches, apricots, sour cherries, berries, nectarines and melons.
I constructed all the pie fillings by macerating the fruit with sugar and lemon, and by then reducing the juices to a syrupy consistency on the stove. This is a great way to condense the flavor and use less starch. In the end I completed 3 baked pies.
A juicy peach and cherry pie, an open faced apricot and raspberries tart, and a nectarines and blackberries crostata. They all came out beautiful even if my crostata almost melted in the heat of the kitchen because the air conditioning was not working, and the temperature reached dangerous peaks melting my dough a couple of times. Even heaven gets hot as hell sometimes.
I then made 2 icebox berries pies, by filling 2 blind baked shells with the fresh fruit mixed with reduced juices, and by letting the fillings set in the fridge, instead of baking the pies. A great techniques for hot summer days when its’ wise not to turn the oven on.
By the end of the day, with halation I got to work on the melon butter. A bright yellow jam, I always do in summer when the melons are at peak, sweet, and full of running down the elbow juices. It’s a fantastic treat to have during a grey winter day to remind your self , the clouds will part and the snow will one day cease.
I like to pair it with prosciutto, smoked and cured meats and strong cheeses.
When I finished I felt exhausted but gloriously satisfied and as all the fantasies even this one came to its end. I packed my tools and I left the Saveur kitchen with a large smile on my face. No walk of shame for me.
Below you can find all the recipes. I hope they will make your summer just a little sweeter. On my tray chic page you’ll find my top picks for all sorts of stylish but smart goodies to help and just perhaps seduce you in to making your own pies and jams.
Roll the bottom crust to a 1/8 of an inch thick 13 inches circle then transfer to a 9 inches pie pan. Fold under the excess and crimp the border. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
Remove from fridge, line with parchment and fill with dried beans, rice or weights.
Bake for 20 mines. Lift the parchment and the beans. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool the crust on a rack. you can then if you like brush the crust with egg white for added protection.
Measure 1 cup of blueberries and put them in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk cornstarch and the 2 tablespoons of water and set aside.
When the water and blueberries have come to a boil, simmer for 3 minutes then add the cornstarch mixture, lemon juice and salt, simmer for a couple of minutes, remove from heat and add to the 3 cups of fresh blueberries.
Spoon the mixture in the baked shell and allow to sit room temperature for at least 2 hours before serving.
Can be served with mascarpone cream, whipped cream or creme patisserie.
Store up to 3 days room temperature.
Techniques: Maceration and reduction of fruit juices.
Servings
Prep Time
6/8peple
45minutes
Cook Time
50/60minutes
Servings
Prep Time
6/8peple
45minutes
Cook Time
50/60minutes
Ingredients
19 inches pie crust ( brisee)recipe below
2 and 3/4 poundsfresh apricotsabout 4 cups, halved pitted, sliced in half
6tablespoonssugar75 g
2tablespoonscorn starch19 g
1/2cupraspberries60g
1/3cupapricot preserve113 g
Servings: peple
Instructions
Pre-heat oven at 425F
Roll the bottom crust to 1/8 inch thick and not bigger than 12 inches in diameter. Line a 9 inch pie pan. Trim the edges almost even but leaving a small part overhanging, to prevent shrinkage. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes up to 3 hours.
Line the pastry with parchment paper, fill with dry beans or weights and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans, prick with a fork and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until pale golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on a rack
Transfer the sliced apricots in a large bowl and sprinkle sugar, ans corn starch. Allow to macerate for 15 minutes.
Arrange the apricots decoratively in the baked shell side up. Place a foil ring around the border to protect the edge from over browning and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until apricots are tender. Cool pie completely. When pie is cool arrange raspberry, if using, in the spaces between the apricots. Heat the apricot jam and using a brush paint the apricots and raspberries with the jam.
Recipe Notes
Brisee, pie crust
Other combinations: Blueberry, nectarines, raspberries and peaches, black berries and peaches, nectarines and raspberries, cherries and berry mix, strawberries and rhubarb. Starch for pies no starch for crostata.
2 and 3/4 poundspeachesabout 8, 1kg, peeled, pitted, sliced in to 16th
1medium lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar112 g
1pinchsalt
4 teaspoonscorn starch12 g
Servings: peple
Instructions
Pre-heat oven at 425F
Roll the bottom crust to 1/8 inch thick and not bigger than 12 inches in diameter. Line a 9 inch pie pan. Trim the edges almost even but leaving a little part overhanging, to prevent shrinkage. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes up to 3 hours.
Transfer the sliced peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice and sugar, add the salt and toss them gently. Macerate for minimum of 30 minutes up to 1 hour.
Drain the peaches in a colander over a bowl and reserve the juice.
Reduce the juice on medium to high and boil down to about 1/3 of a cup or until syrupy and lightly caramelized. Don't stir.
Toss peaces in a bowl with corn starch until cornstarch disappear. Transfer in to the pie shell. Pour syrup over the peaches.
Roll out the top crust large enough to cover the pie. Cover the pie. Tuck the overhanging under the bottom crust. Make 5 slashes, crimp and decorate. Refrigerate covered for at least on hour to relax the dough.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the juices are bubbling over and through the slashes. Cool for at least 3 hours.
Store room temperature up to to 2 days.
Recipe Notes
Brisee, pie crust recipe to follow
Other combinations: Blueberry, nectarines, raspberries and peaches, black berries and peaches, nectarines and raspberries, cherries and berry mix, strawberries and rhubarb.
Do not use starch for crostata, arrange fruit and reduced juices on uncooked pastry, decorate and bake
4cupsstrawberries1 pounds 450g cleaned and hulled, if large halved
3tablespoonscorn starch28g
1/4cupsugar50g
1mediumlemon juice
1/4cupwater or cranberry/orange/raspberry juice
1pinchsalt
1mediumegg whitelightly beaten
Servings: people
Instructions
Pre-heat oven at 425F
In a large bowl mix 3 cups of the strawberries with lemon and sugar. Reserve one cup of strawberries. Macerate for at least half hour up to overnight in the fridge.
Roll the bottom crust to a 1/8 of an inch thick 13 inches circle then transfer to a 9 inches pie pan. Fold under the excess and crimp the border. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
Remove from fridge, line with parchment and fill with dried beans, rice or weights.
Bake for 20 mines. Lift the parchment and the beans. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool the crust on a rack. you can then if you like brush the crust with egg white for added protection.
Drain the macerated strawberries over a bowl. Set the strawberries aside and put the drained juices in a small sauce pan.
Add the corn starch, the water or juice if using, mix until smooth.
Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Cool.
Gently fold in the macerated strawberries and add the reserved 1 cup of fresh strawberries.
Spoon the mixture in the baked shell and allow to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving.
Can be served with mascarpone cream, whipped cream or creme patisserie.
Store up to 3 days room temperature.
sugar500g for every 1 kilo of melon flesh, peeled and seeded
Servings: 8.5 ounces/ 250 ml jars
Instructions
Peel, remove seeds and dice melon. Weight flesh. Add half of the weight in sugar. 50% sugar ratio. 1 to 2 ratio, add the lemon juice. Bring to a boil then simmer in a non reactive pan for about 40 to 50 minutes. Cook until thik and syrupy. Candy thermometer 108. Transfer in to jars, wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath.
Recipe Notes
Works best with cantaloupe or tuscan melons.
Great with prosciutto, smoked meats and strong cheeses.
Roll the bottom crust to a 1/8 of an inch thick 13 inches circle then transfer to a 9 inches pie pan. Fold under the excess and crimp the border. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
Remove from fridge, line with parchment and fill with dried beans, rice or weights.
Bake for 20 mines. Lift the parchment and the beans. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool the crust on a rack. you can then if you like brush the crust with egg white for added protection.
Measure 1 cup of blueberries and put them in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk cornstarch and the 2 tablespoons of water and set aside.
When the water and blueberries have come to a boil, simmer for 3 minutes then add the cornstarch mixture, lemon juice and salt, simmer for a couple of minutes, remove from heat and add to the 3 cups of fresh blueberries.
Spoon the mixture in the baked shell and allow to sit room temperature for at least 2 hours before serving.
Can be served with mascarpone cream, whipped cream or creme patisserie.
Store up to 3 days room temperature.
Techniques: Maceration and reduction of fruit juices.
Servings
Prep Time
6/8peple
45minutes
Cook Time
50/60minutes
Servings
Prep Time
6/8peple
45minutes
Cook Time
50/60minutes
Ingredients
19 inches pie crust ( brisee)recipe below
2 and 3/4 poundsfresh apricotsabout 4 cups, halved pitted, sliced in half
6tablespoonssugar75 g
2tablespoonscorn starch19 g
1/2cupraspberries60g
1/3cupapricot preserve113 g
Servings: peple
Instructions
Pre-heat oven at 425F
Roll the bottom crust to 1/8 inch thick and not bigger than 12 inches in diameter. Line a 9 inch pie pan. Trim the edges almost even but leaving a small part overhanging, to prevent shrinkage. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes up to 3 hours.
Line the pastry with parchment paper, fill with dry beans or weights and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans, prick with a fork and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until pale golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on a rack
Transfer the sliced apricots in a large bowl and sprinkle sugar, ans corn starch. Allow to macerate for 15 minutes.
Arrange the apricots decoratively in the baked shell side up. Place a foil ring around the border to protect the edge from over browning and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until apricots are tender. Cool pie completely. When pie is cool arrange raspberry, if using, in the spaces between the apricots. Heat the apricot jam and using a brush paint the apricots and raspberries with the jam.
Recipe Notes
Brisee, pie crust
Other combinations: Blueberry, nectarines, raspberries and peaches, black berries and peaches, nectarines and raspberries, cherries and berry mix, strawberries and rhubarb. Starch for pies no starch for crostata.
2 and 3/4 poundspeachesabout 8, 1kg, peeled, pitted, sliced in to 16th
1medium lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar112 g
1pinchsalt
4 teaspoonscorn starch12 g
Servings: peple
Instructions
Pre-heat oven at 425F
Roll the bottom crust to 1/8 inch thick and not bigger than 12 inches in diameter. Line a 9 inch pie pan. Trim the edges almost even but leaving a little part overhanging, to prevent shrinkage. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes up to 3 hours.
Transfer the sliced peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice and sugar, add the salt and toss them gently. Macerate for minimum of 30 minutes up to 1 hour.
Drain the peaches in a colander over a bowl and reserve the juice.
Reduce the juice on medium to high and boil down to about 1/3 of a cup or until syrupy and lightly caramelized. Don't stir.
Toss peaces in a bowl with corn starch until cornstarch disappear. Transfer in to the pie shell. Pour syrup over the peaches.
Roll out the top crust large enough to cover the pie. Cover the pie. Tuck the overhanging under the bottom crust. Make 5 slashes, crimp and decorate. Refrigerate covered for at least on hour to relax the dough.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the juices are bubbling over and through the slashes. Cool for at least 3 hours.
Store room temperature up to to 2 days.
Recipe Notes
Brisee, pie crust recipe to follow
Other combinations: Blueberry, nectarines, raspberries and peaches, black berries and peaches, nectarines and raspberries, cherries and berry mix, strawberries and rhubarb.
Do not use starch for crostata, arrange fruit and reduced juices on uncooked pastry, decorate and bake
sugar500g for every 1 kilo of melon flesh, peeled and seeded
Servings: 8.5 ounces/ 250 ml jars
Instructions
Peel, remove seeds and dice melon. Weight flesh. Add half of the weight in sugar. 50% sugar ratio. 1 to 2 ratio, add the lemon juice. Bring to a boil then simmer in a non reactive pan for about 40 to 50 minutes. Cook until thik and syrupy. Candy thermometer 108. Transfer in to jars, wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath.
Recipe Notes
Works best with cantaloupe or tuscan melons.
Great with prosciutto, smoked meats and strong cheeses.
1teaspoonwhite or cider vinegaroptional for a less elastic dough, prevents shrinkage
Servings: disks
Instructions
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter cut in small cubes and very chilled, process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds. You will be able to still see butter particles.
With the machine running, add ice water and vinegar if using, in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Finish the dough by hand by gently working it until it sticks together.
Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.
Recipe Notes
Decrease butter to 175g for a less crumbly and more compact dough. You can flavor it with lemon zest, orange , almond flavoring, cocoa powder, rum or cognac, parmesan, cheddar etc.
“A good dinner is of great importance to good talk. One cannot think well, love well, sleep well,
if one has not dined well.
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
Words I live by and the opening quote for “Time Table. A Tavola Nei Secoli”, a spectacular exhibition at Palazzo Madama, and the Queen Palace in Turin, my hometown in Italy. The show is a time travel through the centuries of table’s settings, manners, social rites and a showcase of stunning china and objects created by artists and artisans to adorn meals and dining tables. It takes place in the palace from June 24 to October 18.
Since I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to table settings I feel lucky to have been invited to see a preview of the show the week before its opening, when I’ll be a guest speaker at TurinEpi a 3 day food event organized by a true Food Goddess and friend Lucia Hannau. Lucia is featured this week in my Sharing Corner where you can read about her, her cooking tips and her food philosophy.
Immediately following the talks, and the eye feasting at Palazzo Madama, I intend to plant my self at Mulassano, one of the oldest bars in the historical center and quickly put my mouth to a more concrete use, and enjoy a full scale aperitif and to dig in to as many tramezzini, salatini and a negroni or two, while checking out the beautiful and well dressed passers by.
Tramezzini, shot by Silvia Baldini
While Torino and Piedmont are known for big wines, truffles, and a variety of truly impressive dishes, tramezzini are by far my favorite treat when I go home. They are the perfect food to share at a meal that is casual but refined. They are small and delicate and they showcase local ingredients in combinations that range from classic pairings to more surprising and complex combinations.
Of course no cutlery is necessary, but they should be served on fine-looking china, showcased on gracious trays, with pretty pressed linens.
They, at times, require some operational dexterity and manners when eaten while gossiping, checking out the latest fashion under the portici or chatting about the malevolence of the Euro, but they are sure to please the palate and the eye, something very necessary in Italy, a country where food is as important as “Bella Figura”.
It’s important to remember, when making tramezzini, the bread must be fresh, soft and never dry.
I often place a humid piece of cloth on the bread while working and preparing them and I take care to wrap them in film immediately after making them; I also always keep them sealed in the fridge until I’m ready to serve them.
White Bread, By Silvia Baldini
Butter, mayonnaise or a sauce has to be used for flavor and to keep the fillings in it’s place. The ingredients must be fresh and of good quality because there is not too much cooking involved and the flavor comes from the produce not the technique.
Fresh Ingredients By Silvia Baldini
Below is the top ten lists of my favorite combinations, the recipe for a good home made mayonnaise and the link to a Negroni recipe from the NYT made with Punt e Mes a vermouth invented in Torino by the Carpano family. I also have updated my Tray Chic page with some new ideas for table settings.
Place the egg yolks, the mustard, the salt and pepper in a blender. Blend at medium speed. When all combined and emulsified start pouring the olive olive with the motor going slowly. Add the lemon and the vinegar and taste for seasoning. If your mayonnaise splits, add one or two spoon of warm water and an extra egg yolk, then blend again.
Yesterday I woke up with no will nor power for fussy cooking.
I have been in the kitchen non-stop for the past 3 weeks testing and tasting for clients and projects, the thought of spending additional time preparing dinner was unquestionably out of the question. Yet it was a lovely afternoon and I wanted to treat my family to a good meal and spend some precious time with the kids outside. We are very taken by badminton at the moment and my son had an explosive science project he wanted to show me. The science project was explosive indeed. It required a large amount of my cornstarch and soda water, we survived in one piece and dinner turned out even more explosive and a slam-dunk with the family, something I feel is,
at times, more rewarding than a Michelin star.
What I made was insalata di riso. That’s a very Italian rice salad. It’s a classing dish made on summer days and it mostly appears at large gatherings and picnics.
The rice is boiled for 15 minutes with fresh or frozen peas and rinsed in cold water to cool it off and to get rid of most of the starch. Then the fun starts. The classic recipe calls for good canned tuna in olive oil, hard boiled eggs, diced tomatoes, some green olives, pickled vegetables, roasted peppers and yes, don’t run away, wusterls. They are the German or the Italian equivalent to the American hot dogs. Once you taste them sliced , cold and combined with all the other goodies, you’ll be forever hooked, because I strongly, believe, one cannot always feed on balsamic reductions.
In the end the whole thing gets dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper, a sprinkle
of chopped parsley, some basil, parmesan slivers and if you feel frisky also with a couple of spoons of good mayonnaise. It’s best to let it rest it in the fridge for at least an hour to combine all the flavors but a full stop overnight makes it even better.
Of course as you can imagine, the variation are many. You can boil the rice with aromatics or saffron to get a flavor kick, change the rice to a black or a red rice, add all sorts of ingredients like shrimps or swordfish or humble chicken or substitute the wurstel for a cured fancy salame or prosciutto, but who has time or the will to go to Brooklyn and run in one more bearded artisanal butcher. Besides I love the original recipe too much to change it.
I made the insalata di riso, in less the 25 minutes, if you are smart and organized you can chop all the ingredients while the rice is cooking and cook the eggs in the rice water during the last 10 minutes .
I also poached some sweet cherries in red wine, then since I cannot help myself, I made a vanilla budino. It was a great meal, everybody was happy and my kids kicked my derriere at badminton. I posted the pictures on facebook and instagram and this morning I was inundated with requests for the recipe, so here it is.
I hope you have a great lazy and tasty 4th of July and for once don’t spend too much time in the kitchen.
1/2cupparmesan sliversdiced fontina or pecorino are good substitute
2 teaspoonschopped parsley
6leavesbasilteared in small pieces
1mediumlemon juice
3tablespoonsolive oil
salt and pepper
2tablespoonsmayonnaiseoptional
Servings: people
Instructions
Boil the rice in salted water for 15 minutes, add the peas during the last 7 minutes. Drain well and rinse in cold water.
Reserve in a large bowl. Meanwhile cook the eggs for 9/10 minutes till hardboiled. Peel and cut in to eights. Cook the hot dogs for a couple of minutes in boiling water, then drain and slice in small rounds. Add the tuna, the tomatoes, the olives, the peppers, the pickled vegetables, the sliced hot dogs, the parmesan to the rice. Dress the salad with the olive oil, lemon salt pepper and mayonnaise if using. Add the chopped herbs mix well, and lastly add the eggs. Cover with film and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Overnight is better.
The 4:06 train, or the Jitney and complimentary peanuts, or an unforgivably expensive rental car is what comes to mind when I think of my NY summers in the late 90’s; followed by the scent of recently cut grass, salty fresh air, and a tire swinging from an old tree.
Like most New Yorkers, I had a share in a summer home in the Hampton. It was a share in an old, once majestic home on Ocean Avenue in Bridgehampton, named after a potato farmer known as Old Men Brennan.
The Brennan home didn’t have the amenities one would expect from a summer home in the Hamptons; it had no pool, no air conditioning, no fancy speakers or a big screen TV, and some would say part of it was definitely hygienically below standards, requiring heavy bleach use at the beginning of the season. The sleeping quarters were unequally distributed, all the beds were lumpy and 2 rooms in the back were kind-heartedly described as the Ann Frank’s rooms.
However the Brennan home had an old kitchen, perfect for baking pies, an impeccable grass lawn meant for fierce croquet games famously assisted by tall icy vodka tonics, a green room for rainy days, where a group of good friends made up by talented artist, writers and designers could share a laugh, a glass or two of wine, and a good meal during the mercilessly hot NY weekends.
Old Man Breannan’s House. Painting by Christian Vincent.
The meals at the house were taken as seriously as the discussions about art, life, relationships and work, and they were, for the most part, shared labor and shared economy. They were conceived around the kitchen table where cooking skills and family recipes not only helped craft unforgivable meals, but also still standing friendships. They were consumed mostly on the lawn, by the tree with the swing.
Some Of The Girls Cooking
Eventually, the Brennan house came to an end. Some of the people got married; some broke up, or some simply moved on or away, yet my love for a perfect summer meal, eaten alfresco and shared with good friends and family remains certain.
Nowadays, when I serve a meal outside, I often like to start with a Pimm’s cup, an anglophile habit I picked up after living in London. It looks pretty, it’s refreshing and it’s a cheerful way to get one or two of your fruits and veggies daily doses. Here’s a great link for trustworthy recipes:
As a main course, I frequently make an oven baked whole fish. Branzino or red snapper both work well. I leave the head on and all the bones in for flavor, no need to be squirmish, and I make sure to descale the outside and wash the insides well. I cook it on an oven tray lined with slices of lemons and aromatics. The lemon and aromatics prevent the fish from sticking to the bottom and donate a brilliant flavor.
Red Snapper. Photo By Beatriz da Costa
For side dishes, I insist on a Mediterranean style potato salad, dressed with a good fruity and pungent olive oil, parsley, basil and salty black cured olives. I also like to serve roasted peppers and a fresh arugula salad tossed with lemon juice vinaigrette. I roast the peppers on an open flame then I close them in brown paper bag for 15 minutes, this way the skin peels off easy. It’s great a trick my dad taught me a long time ago.
While a pie, any kind of pie would certainly be a nice ending, at the moment I’m obsessed with Ataulfo mangos. They are sweet, full of flavor and just perfect for my mango, orange and passion fruit cake.
Passion Fruit Cake
Although some wish the days at Brennan house never ended I raise my Pimm’s cup to this summer and all the summers to come, and I hope where ever you are, you will share a good meal together with someone you care for, on a green shady lawn.
41 to 1 1/4 pound Whole FishScup, Branzino, Seabass,
2largelemons sliced
1wholelemon juice
4 sprigs rosemary
8bay leaves
8 clovesgarlicunpeeled
bunch parsley
1/2 cupolive oil
1mediumred onionsliced
1bunch thyme
Servings: people
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425° and line a large tray with baking paper then scatter lemon slices, rosemary, sliced red onion, garlic, and bay leaves on it.
Season the fish cavities with salt and stuff 2 lemon rounds, a bay leaf, some of the thyme, a garlic clove, parsley and 1 rosemary sprig in each. Season the fish with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil and the lemon juice.
Roast the fish in the oven for about 25 minutes, until just cooked through.
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Fingerling Potatoes Salad with Black Olives and Basil
2poundsfingerling potatoesor any kind of small waxy potatoes
1/2cupolive oil
1 1/2 tspDijon mustard
3/4cupblack cured olivespitted and sliced in half
2/3tbspchopped chives
2/3tbspchopped fresh basil
1tspsalt
1/2tspcracked black pepper
Servings: people
Instructions
Scrub the potatoes and put them, whole, in a saucepan with water to cover by 1/2 inch and the salt. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook the potatoes gently until they are just tender and can be pierced with a sharp knife. About 20 to 25 minutes Drain immediately and let cool slightly. Scrape the skin from the cooked potatoes, if you want, as soon as they can be handled.
Slice the potatoes while still warm, cutting them crosswise into 1/2-inch sections. Put the pieces in a large mixing bowl,drizzle 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil over them, the Dijon mustard and toss gently to distribute.
Add the herbs, the olives and season with salt pepper and the remaing olive oil.
14 oz alfonsomangosabout 4/6 mangos peeled and cubed
Glaze
1/2 cuppassion fruit pulpjuice is fine too
5tbscaster sugar65 g
Servings: people
Instructions
Cake
Heat the oven at 325 F 170C Butter and line with parchment paper a 9 1/2 inches 24cm spring form cake pan
Grate the zest of the oranges and reserve. Peel the oranges, discard the peel and put the oranges flesh into a food processor. Pulse to a puree, then transfer to a measuring cup. You should have 3/4 of a cup or 180ml. Add water if necessary. Set aside.
With an electric beater, beat the butter the sugar, vanilla and the reserved orange zest until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at the time, beating very well between each one. Add a spoonful of flour with the last egg to stop curdling. Slowly beat in the flour, the salt and combine.
Sprinkle the soda over the pureed oranges and as the soda is now active add immediately to the cake batter and slowly beat until combined.
Pour into the lined pan, sprinkle with coconut and spread the mango on top. Bake until the sides of the cake pull away from the pan and a cake tester or tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. About 1 hour and 30 minutes; cover loosely with foil if the top starts to over-brown while baking. Pull out of the oven, run a knife around the sides and leave to cool complelty in to its pan on wire rack before turning out.
Glaze
Make the glaze. Put the passion fruit and sugar in a small pan over low heat. Cook until thickened, 1 or 2 minutes. Drizzle over the cake.
Recipe Notes
Can be baked one day in advance and kept in an airtight container.
Good question and terrific article in the NYT Sunday Review by Ms. Elinor Burkett, commenting about the outstanding Mr. Bruce Jenner transformation in to Ms. Caitlyn Jenner. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/opinion/sunday/what-makes-a-woman Ms. Burkett, very elegantly and eloquently exposes many notions I have been pondering about and wanting to put down on paper myself, but I have not being able to properly articulate.
What I’ll do instead is urge you to read the article and with enthusiasm welcome Ms. Jenner
to the alluring but somewhat complicated world of women. A world made not only of pretty nail polish, tight spanx and never ending styles of uncomfortable shoes created to torture large and small feet, but also a world of tired women forced to pump milk in public bathrooms due to the lack of adequate maternity leave, a world of no equal pay and no equal employment opportunity,
a world that most of the times demands to grow a pair in order to fashionably survive in.
Thankfully I hear Caitlyn has kept all her necessary bits in place.
I also want to warn and urge Ms. Jenner, in the likely event the corset shall becomes too tight,
or a bad hair day should strike, the stache start to show, or God forbid, 6 months from now, shall she wake up to be, not on the beautifully and immaculately styled cover of Vanity Fair but back on the less flattering front of the Enquirer, to instantaneously invite the girls over for a “cook and bitch session”, and share with them her newly acquired womanly sorrows and my gooey, out of this world chocolate brownies. They are known to put a stop to all sorts of dramas, put some hair on the chest and cure the blues every time. Smartly us women know, sugar and spices is what we are made of.
Preheat the oven at 350 F and line the base and sides of a 13 x 9 baking pan with parchment paper.
Put the chocolate and the butter in to a metal bowl and place it on a pot of simmering water, making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Melt the chocolate and the butter slowly mixing from time to time with a rubber spatula. Careful not to get water in to the bowl. Set aside to cool off.
Beat the eggs and sugar well with the aid of a kitchen aid. I like to use a rubber spatula attachment. Add the vanilla extract. Slowly add the chocolate and butter. Fold in the flour, cocoa powder and salt by hand making sure to incorporate all and mix gently until uniform in color.
Pour in to the lined baking pan and cook in the oven for 25 minutes. The center should be still a little soft and gooey. Place on a rack to cool off. Cut in 48 squares.
Recipe Notes
You can add walnuts, coconuts, dried cherry hazelnuts, white chocolate chips, butterscotch , a shot of espresso, a hot of rum, or even half a glass of red wine! YUM YUM YUM
There are glorious moments in the kitchen when things go exquisitely well and we picture our face,
in all its sweaty glory, on the cover of Bon Appétit and then, there is that slow motion, non returnable instant, when all goes terribly wrong. Every chef, every cook knows disaster can strike
in a split second.
We get distracted, we make mistakes, we make a mess, we don’t follow directions, or simply there is mechanical failure. Even Julia Child was no stranger to dropping the occasional raw chicken or letting her flambé’ turn in to serious flames.
I’m no stranger to those “OOPS Moment” myself. I have for sure had my share of flat cakes, bland soups, raw chickens, dry breads, explosive blenders, and bloody fingers. I could go on for days. Luckily, no one has to know. That’s when I’m in the privacy of my own little kitchen.
And that’s when I always leave my self some extra time to either cook something new or run out for rotisserie kitchen.
However there are those times when I have to cook live and I only have 30 minutes to do it right. I’m talking about this past weekend at the Audubon Greenwich, where I had the pleasure and the honor to be invited to do 3 cooking demonstrations during the Sustainable Farm Expo.
I was excited to work with fresh farm eggs, marinate and grill a yummy bavette steak, show how to home cure a salmon and use some great organic, local produce form the Westport Farmers Market.
Poached egg. 3 minutes.
While the eggs and home cured salmon where smooth sailing, my mise for steak was not in place and when I went to cook the beautiful grass fed steak, the burners were not working and the grill pan was cold.
Bavette steak demo.
There is a nothing fun about 50 piercing eyes, including the ones of the butcher, staring at you and the hungry silence that descends during a cooking demo going south. But there is always a way to come back north. Luckily I had an electric pan in the back. The steak was saved and so was lunch.
Following are a few tips for when Murphy’s Law “If anything can go wrong, it will” rears it’s ugly head and my recipe for home cured citrus salmon.
Never try something new and don’t improvise or substitute ingredients when cooking for guests.
Prep everything ahead. I mean everything.
Make lists of what you will need. Don’t forget your list.
Even ovens with the best intentions may be off, but an oven thermometer will solve the mystery of the real temperature.
Hot liquids will explode in a blender. Cool everything off before pushing the start button.
Keep your knives sharp.
Try everything before serving and before cooking.
Salt is your friend.
Don’t panic. Think.
Make ahead some pizzas, a meat stew, meatballs, soups, a pasta-bake and freeze all for emergencies.
Never apologize. If you are cooking for someone you are doing him or her a favor. Whatever the out come is they should kiss the ground you walk on or at least do your dishes.
Some pine for the perfect storm, I hunger for the perfect meal.
I spend hours of the day and sometimes of the night exploring and obsessing about ingredients and flavor combinations to create a flawless meal to share with people, no matter if I’m conceptualizing for one of my more intricate events or a laidback dinner with friends.
Some might think of it as OCD, I call it love for both scrumptious food and dedication to my guests.
Elegant, no frills, standing up, meat, vegetarian, kids, no kids, celebratory, winter, summer, only a nosh. The possibilities are endless.
Then, there are certain times in life when nothing will do but a steak.
When steak is king, a vast selection flows in to my brain while I go through the different textures, flavors and degrees of tenderness. Rib eye, sirloin, t-bone, dry aged, Fiorentina, Porterhouse, these are all cuts with merits and singular degrees of juiciness and oral pleasure.
If I want flavor and texture, one cut is firmly lodged in my mind and that’s undeniably flap steak. And since the name it’s a bit unappealing, you can add a bit of je ne sais quoi and call it Bavette like the French, or go south of the border and refer to it as Fajitas. I name it my favorite.
And I’m not the only one. Before becoming a darling of the hipster chefs in Brooklyn, it was known as the butcher best-kept secret.
The Bavette is similar to skirt and flank in that it comes from the less tender regions of the animal. Often cheaper than more popular cuts, this little underdog of the beef world has a wonderful meaty flavor and a fine texture.
It demands a good marinade, high heat quick grilling, a mandatory slice against the grain at an angle, and resting time.
This is a steak I would serve to my close friends, at boy’s night or perhaps the poker crew but I’m certain it would impress any diehard foodie hanging around.
My marinade of choice for Bavette is a whiskey, honey, coffee and garlic marinade. Salty and slightly bitter from the espresso powder but with a hint of sweetness from the honey, it enhances the already powerful flavor of the, if cooked right, charred but tender meat.
Photo by Beatriz da Costa, styling by Erin Swift
I like to serve the steak, medium rare, sliced, with a caramelized onion marmalade I have learned to make at Ritz in London that I adore for its sweetness and silky texture and a simple but bright and slightly vinegary salsa verde. Nothing else.
Photo by Beatriz da Costa, styling by Erin Swift
Except, speaking of talented hipsters, a glass of my friend Sarah’s whiskey from Van Brunt Stillhouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn that I like to use for the marinade as well and of course good bread for mopping up the juices.
van brunt stillhouse
If you cannot find Bavette steak, a flat iron, a flank or a skirt steak would be a beautiful and equally tasty substitutes.
A generous helping of coffee affogato could end the evening well, making this, in my mind, a perfect meal and for others a fun poker night.
If you want to learn more about how to prepare and cook steak come by May 31st at the Sustainable Food and Farm Expo at Audubon Greenwich where I’ll be doing 3 demonstrations during the day and using some great cheaper cuts from the skillful and renowned Fleisher’s Craft Butchery.
The Farm Expo will be from 10 am to 5 pm and it will showcase twenty food exhibitors and vendors plus talks, demonstrations, and tastings with a wide range of experts every thirty minutes. The Sustainable Food & Farm Expo is a production of Audubon Greenwich, the Fairfield Green Food Guide, and Strawberry and Sage.
For more information and to purchase tickets click on:
Recipe by Silvia Baldini—Flank demands a good marinade to add flavor but also to promote browning and crispness. It needs high heat quick grilling, a mandatory slice against the grain at an angle, and resting time. I marinate the meat for thirty minutes to two hours. For rare steak, I grill it on really high heat for three to five minutes on each side, depending on the thickness. Larger steaks might take longer.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini—Flank demands a good marinade to add flavor but also to promote browning and crispness. It needs high heat quick grilling, a mandatory slice against the grain at an angle, and resting time. I marinate the meat for thirty minutes to two hours. For rare steak, I grill it on really high heat for three to five minutes on each side, depending on the thickness. Larger steaks might take longer.
2 tablespoonsespresso powderbrewed strong coffee can be substitute
1tablespoonsherry vinegar
salt/ black pepper
olive oil
Servings:
Instructions
Marinate the steak. Place the steak in a ziplock bag. Mix the garlic, whiskey, honey or syrup, soy, coffee and vinegar until well combined, then pour over the steak and close the ziplock bag.
Chill for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours in the fridge. Return to room temperature before cooking.
Remove the steak from the marinade. Put the marinade in a small sauce pan and reduce over medium heat, Bring to a boil then simmer until thickened. About 5 minutes. Reserve.
Cook the steak. Season well with salt and pepper. And drizzle a little oil on it. Heat a grill pan or a regular pan over high heat. Grill the steak 4 to 6 minutes per side for medium rare.
Let the steak rest for at least 5 minutes. Slice at an angle and against the grain. Drizzle the reserved and warmed marinade over the steak before serving.
In a large pan, heat the olive oil until shimmering add then butter and melt. Add the onions and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 15/20 minutes.
Tie the bay leaves and rosemary and thyme together with kitchen twine. Add the herb bundle to the onions and cook over low heat, stirring a few times, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar over the onions and cook, without stirring, until the sugar melts, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to high and cook, without stirring, until an amber-brown caramel forms, about 6 minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and simmer over low heat, stirring a few times, until the jam is thick, about 5 minutes. Discard the herb bundle. Season the jam with salt and pepper and let it cool to warm.
MAKE AHEAD
The caramelized onion jam can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Anna Jarvis created the modern American holiday of Mother’s day in 1908 to honor her own mother. The Von Trap family, made their mom “One of Their Favorite Things”, and named a cheese after her. Marie Curie was a radioactive mama. In addition to breaking the gender barrier and discovering the two elements, radium and polonium, she raised two daughters and was honored with two Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry. I recently read in Food and Wine magazine that chef Mario Batali has made his mom blueberry crumble a staple at his dinner parties.
Next Sunday across America families will be looking for ways to celebrate their moms and all the women that mean something to them. Personally I’ll be honoring my mom and my mother in law. Both shared their love with me and passed on to me, among other things, their passion for cooking.
My mom was a remarkable lady. An egyptologist and a latin and greek scholar, she distilled in me a deep love for books, art, small tea sandwiches, and her vast gastronomical knowledge. If I had to pick a recipe that represents her the best, I would probably choose her baked peaches with an Amaretti cookies crumble. She used to bring them out at the end of simple dinner parties. She would serve them still slightly warm and nestled with all their sticky juices, on a pale green ceramic platter that would offset and complement the sun kissed yellows and pinks of the peaches. Each spoon was a combination of sweet, crunchy and caramelized heaven with a hint of almond and maternal love.
Mom, August 1967
My mother in law is another extraordinary lady. She left Bologna to live in NYC in the 70’ where my husband was born. She lived in the West Village when the Village was the ” Village”. She travelled to Seattle on her own to teach Italian to US Air force students. She moved back to Italy and raised, in my opinion, two pretty handsome sons. She can grind a crossword puzzle like no one. Her knowledge in the kitchen is surpassed by no one. Before marrying my husband she gifted me with two large volumes of hand typed family recipes. I cherish these books and use them often. The recipes in these books are a collection of loved dishes, often served at family gatherings and a genealogical map of traditions passed on by mothers and grandmothers.
Betta, 1970
My kids and I adore her prosciutto and Fontina brioche. Pure golden perfection. Once in the oven the aroma of baking buttery bread pervades our house, making the wait almost unbearable. We eat it warm, right out of the oven. It makes a good dinner. I have been told my rendition is almost as good as hers, but not quite there yet.
While next Sunday, you don’t necessarily need to name a cheese after your mom, or present her with a Nobel prize, make sure you take time to honor her, spend time with her and cherish every precious second you have with her. She deserves the love.
If you want to know more about splendid moms, my mom and these recipes, please tune in this Thursday the 7th at noon when I’ll be a guest on HansRadio for a Mother day special on Stir Crazy : Food Chat with Patty Gay .
Wash the peaches in cold water, dry well and halve them with a pairing knife. Remove the pit.
With a spoon remove some of the peaches pulp and form a space for the filling, reserve the pulp in a bowl.
Crumble the Amaretti cookies in a food processor or by hand. Add to the peaches pulp.
Using a Kitchen-aid or by hand cream the egg's yolks and sugar together until fluffy and light. Add to the cookies and the peaches. Add the cocoa powder and the dark chocolate. Add the rum. Mix well.
Fill the peaches with the cookie and egg dough and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
Bake in the oven at 350F for about 45 minutes. They can be served warm or room temperature.
In a Kitchen-aid fitted with a blade mix the butter, flour, eggs and salt, combine well.
Activate the yeast in the warm milk. Add to the dough and mix.
Butter and line a medium size oven proof baking dish. Spread half of the dough in it with the help of the blade of a knife. It's a very sticky dough so be patient and makes sure to reserve half of the dough to cover the top.
Sprinkle with a layer of the fontina cheese cubed and lay the prosciutto slices on top. Cover with the remaining dough. Spread it even. Beat the remaining egg with a fork to make a wash, you can add teaspoon of water. With a brush paint the whole brioche evenly.
Leave the brioche to raise in a warm place for 3 hours. Cover loosely with a canvas.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 40 minutes. Slice and eat warm.
To make the vinaigrette, mix the shallot and vinegar in a small bowl, and gradually whisk in the oil with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cut the bread horizontally into even top and bottom layers. Turn the top over, then drizzle olive oil all over the cut sides of both layers, using 2 or 3 Tbs of oil on each.
Make layers of all the filling ingredients. First, completely cover the sandwich bottom with 5 or 6 lettuce leaves, then arrange the slices of Brie on top. Scatter the chopped olives and cover with the tomato slices in a single layer.
Spoon about half the vinaigrette over the tomatoes, then separate the anchovy fillets and distribute evenly. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette and the oil from the anchovy can all over the filling. Finally, replace the top layer of the bread to close the sandwich.
Wrap the sandwich well with several layers of plastic wrap and place on a cookie sheet or pizza pan or tray. Lay another tray on top of the sandwich and center some heavy items to press and flatten the loaf (a heavy pan and a 5-lb bag of sugar, for example).
Place the weighted sandwich in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours or overnight. Before serving, remove the weight, unwrap the compressed sandwich, and let it come to room temperature. Cut into serving-size wedges or, as an hors d'oeuvre cut in thin parallel slices, and again into short, bite-size lengths. 1 large sandwich makes 8 large wedges or 24-hors-d'oeuvre-size pieces.
The park, the beach, a shady spot, your favorite secret corner. Like in real estate, location is everything when scouting for a picnic site. Keep it simple, easy to reach and close to a storm shelter.
Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Sunday on the Banks of the Marne, 1938
Semantic:
Picnic, or pique-nique, is of French origin, formed from piquer, the French for “to pick at food”, and nique meaning something small of no value.
The word picnic has existed in English for a long time, with different meanings including a kind of hat and a morally suspect club started by lord Chesterfied in 1748 that was associated with card-playing and drinking. No matter. Picnicking is what you make of it. I call mine alfresco dining and I pack it as tasty and as fun as I can.
Thomas Cole’s A Pic-Nic Party, 1846
Style:
The art of the picnic should require resolute rejection of plastic when it comes to food packing. Plastic makes everything smell funky and it’s, in my opinion, unbecoming. Paper, glass, cloth, cardboard, wax paper, are all beautiful alternatives.
Alcohol:
Don’t forget the bottle opener for the booze. Or better forget it and stick to champagne.
Packing:
At the beginning of times a picnic was a way to take a whole meal outside. Originally servants and coaches used to come at 4am to pick up a picnic hamper. Well I have news for you. Times have changed. Keep you packing light and organized. Select fresh ingredients and recipes that are easily sharable with your tribe. On the other hand, if you have kids in the group, by all mean, load them up.
Food:
In the end, packing good food is what a picnic it’s all about. It doesn’t have to be fine dining or complicated but it has to be memorable and refreshing. Jars salads are a great idea. Dressing goes on the bottom, veggies and other goodies get piled on top. Everything stays separate and dressing-free until you toss the salad together, you’ll never eat another soggy salad.
A pressed sandwich is another fabulous idea. You can prepare it in advance, by cutting a good loaf of crusty bread, loading it with layers of greens, creamy cheese, salty cured meats, a good drizzle of strong olive oil and wrap it in lots of cellophane. Put it at the bottom of the picnic basket and weight it down with all the other goodies. Once you a get to your spot, ask the kids to sit on it. It will help you flatten the sandwich, and making sure all the flavors are properly combined while giving you the time you need to unpack in peace. Don’t forget scotched eggs and an aioli for dipping, I’m partial to my tarragon infused recipe, some pickled veggies for tanginess, and of course strawberries because it’s not a proper picnic with out sweet strawberries to stain your clothes.
All the recipes from my lecture at Olivette are now online.
To make the vinaigrette, mix the shallot and vinegar in a small bowl, and gradually whisk in the oil with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cut the bread horizontally into even top and bottom layers. Turn the top over, then drizzle olive oil all over the cut sides of both layers, using 2 or 3 Tbs of oil on each.
Make layers of all the filling ingredients. First, completely cover the sandwich bottom with 5 or 6 lettuce leaves, then arrange the slices of Brie on top. Scatter the chopped olives and cover with the tomato slices in a single layer.
Spoon about half the vinaigrette over the tomatoes, then separate the anchovy fillets and distribute evenly. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette and the oil from the anchovy can all over the filling. Finally, replace the top layer of the bread to close the sandwich.
Wrap the sandwich well with several layers of plastic wrap and place on a cookie sheet or pizza pan or tray. Lay another tray on top of the sandwich and center some heavy items to press and flatten the loaf (a heavy pan and a 5-lb bag of sugar, for example).
Place the weighted sandwich in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours or overnight. Before serving, remove the weight, unwrap the compressed sandwich, and let it come to room temperature. Cut into serving-size wedges or, as an hors d'oeuvre cut in thin parallel slices, and again into short, bite-size lengths. 1 large sandwich makes 8 large wedges or 24-hors-d'oeuvre-size pieces.
Forget Chopped, Bologna, Italy is were the real war is. Every year, my mother in law Betta and her Sister Giorgia have a food competition. Betta takes on Easter lunch and Giorgia rebuttals with the Christmas meal. I don’t know how far back this tradition dates, but I can assure you , the competition is brutal.
Months before the meals, family recipes are sourced out from books, secret phone calls are made, and long consultations with other close family members and sometimes Guido, the local butcher and known gourmand, take place behind closed doors. Food creativity, presentation, and table settings are taken in consideration. No detail is overlooked.
Me, I stay out of it. If consulted I just make up an excuse and change the subject. I have learn not to come between the sisters. But I reap the benefits. I, in fact, have had the pleasure to attend Betta’s Easter feast for 2 years now, and enjoy the creations while sinfully indulge in the verbal banter between the sisters.
And let me tell you, Betta didn’t disappoint this year. The spread was spectacular, each dish was designed with a nod to local ingredients and family recipes. Some of my favorite dishes were: buttery and flaky parmigianini, handmade sting nettle tortelloni, inspired by a recipe from signora Patrizia’s arsenal, stuffed guinea hen, veal mosaic, and a stunning fruit aspic.
Betta also scored extra points not only with the menu design, that with the help of my brother in law, his girlfriends and pinerest, was designed to resemble a cootie catcher, but also with the place settings, which were hand carved by my father in law Gigi, from local walnut trees and esquisitely hand painted with everybody’s first names.
Menu by Francesco and Irene
Place Setting by Gigi
Augusto and Valentina settings
Parmigianini are a tradition at Betta’s table. They are small, buttery, flaky, loaded with parmigian, crunchy biscuits. They are served as an aperitif. Once I locate them, I cannot stop eating them. They are evil and addictive. This time, they were accompanied by Crodino’s and Aperol. These are bitter orange drinks meant to stimulate the appetite at the beginning of the meal.
Parmigianini
Crodini and Aperol
I was told the sting nettles for the tortelloni were picked in the fall and frozen especially for this meal. They are mixed in, while making the dough, lending not only a beautiful green hue to the tortelloni, but also a very distinctive aromatic flavor, reminiscing of mint and spinach. The tortelloni were a work of art. The dough was thin, slippery and encasing fresh, just made, salty ricotta and chopped sting nettles. Dressed in a creamy sauce reduced with parmigiano, these tortelloni are possibly one of the more remarkable pasta dish I have ever had. I could taste the love, the passion and the patience of the experienced hands of Betta and Patrizia in each one of them.
Sting Nettles
Dough
Betta’s tortelloni
I loved the stuffed guinea hen. It’s a beautiful and decadent dish, perfect for company. The veal mosaic was silky and tender, I would say it is the elegant cousin of the meatloaf. It came at the table all dressed up and studded with emerald green pistachios and specks of delicate pink prosciutto.
Veal Mosaico
There were many other side dishes, salads and desserts served. This was not a meal for the faint of heart. Once it was time for the grand finale, the fruit aspic, took the cake. Aspic is an old fashion and sentimental dish in Italy. Every family has a recipe and it appears at times, at the end of the meal in all it’s trembling glory. Some people might over look the aspic and go for the creamy and more chocolaty contenders, but, I just love the refreshing qualities of it. Betta aspic is loaded with berries, fruit and encased by a delicate sweet but tangy gelatin. Of course to be fair, I also tried the famous chocolate sandwich cookies and all the other dessert. and enjoyed all of them, but the aspic is were my heart and taste buds were at.
Aspic
Filling the chocolate cookies
I cannot wait to go back next year. I can not even imagine how Betta will top her self. Truth is, I cannot imagine what her sister Giorgia will do at Christmas. She sure has a tough act to fall. Although I have heard through the grapevine, she has already started looking trough the books, and I can hear her wheels turning from here.
The sting nettel tortelloni, courtesy of Patrizia is posted below.
Betta and Gigi, the hosts and winner of this year feast. For now.
Last night I competed on Chopped, on Food Network, and guess what, I won.
I dreamed to be on Chopped since the time I decided to take a crazy leap, change my career, my life, and enroll at Cordon Bleu. I should leap more often, because I enjoyed every stressful second of it. The second I walked in to the Chopped Kitchen, the second I heard Mr. Ted Allen announced my name, the second I saw judges Maneet Chauhan, Marc Murphy, Chris Santos glare at me, the second I opened my first mystery basket. Then It’s all a blur. heart pumping, adrenaline going, knives action packed hour. And I won. Thank God! because the smile on my children face when I told them I actually won, was worth every heart pounding moment.
By the way if you had not noticed, it’s April 1st today, and wouldn’t you know it, the pantry in the Chopped kitchen was chock full of pranks and the ingredients in the mystery baskets were in disguise; but after enduring April Fools’ Day pranks, a mystery basket of duplicitous ingredients, and a grueling twelve hours of competition against younger, up-and-coming chefs from the hot culinary scene in Charleston, South Carolina, I think I impressed the judges with my dessert, sweet canederli.
I LOVE CANEDERLI! Canederli are bread dumplings, a regional specialty of northeast Italy where they are served as a first course or dessert. Considered part of ‘cucina povera’, they are made of simple and inexpensive ingredients including stale bread moistened with milk or cheese bound with eggs and a small amount of flour. They are not very known here in the US. But I grew up eating them. It’s a dish that comes from the north and the mountains of Italy, like me. They are a tasty treat, that exemplifies my love for “chic and simple comfort” cuisine. A style rooted in making beautiful food to share with loved ones.
The sweet Canederli I made on Chopped, are based on my very simple but elegant recipe: Balsamic Strawberry Soup and Sweet Canaderli. It’s a very easy recipe and it’s a great dessert to end a meal. I always shape the canederli in advance, but poach them at the last moment. The aroma of the cinnamon, cardamon, clove and lemon fills my kitchen, reminding me of my precious times spent back home, exploring my loved Alps and Dolomites, with my family.
Savory Canederli are even more popular than sweet one. Some of my favorite are the ricotta canederli and speck, and the semolina ones. Ricotta canederli are lush, soft and delicious, when drowsed in brown butter.
The speck and semolina’s are packed with flavor, saltiness and restoratives qualities, thanks to warm, rich broth they float in.
To make Canederli, you use what you have in your pantry, stale bread from the day before, a little semolina, flour or even old mashed potatoes. They are a great way to repurpose left overs. They are not hard to make, you just have to learn to shape them, it’s like making meatballs, fun for all.
I’m posting the recipes below. I hope you try to make them, perhaps you can then imagine you are in the Dolomites, rent the 1962 original “Pink Panther”, or Roger Moore’s “For your Eyes Only and make a movie night of it.
Me, I’m going to celebrate my victory tonight, with a big bowl of canederli and my grinning kids and husband.
It’s sticky in my kitchen! I’m getting ready for the Ark of Taste Honey event next week at the Carriage Barn Arts Center in New Canaan.
I’ll be working with and tasting RedBee’s beautiful single-origin artisanal honey and getting some tips, on heirlooms and local foods from Analiese Paik of the Fairfield Green Food guide.
I truly love cooking with honey. The different floral bouquets create a vast range of aromas, enhancing and providing sweetness and deep complex flavors to many dishes.
For this event I’m making a carrot, honey ginger soup, and honey citrus soaked cakes. I chose these two recipes because I wanted to showcase the honey and show off the it’s versatility.
Both recipes are simple and heart warming. I also chose them because, they are not only easy to make, but also beautiful, and they would be perfect, for a simple but elegant evening supper with loved ones.
The carrot, honey, ginger soup is silky, lush, and pure goodness. The sweetness and complexity of the red currant honey combined with the heat of the ginger and the tanginess of the lemon, make each bite spicy, sour and bright.
The honey citrus soaked cake is dense, moist, sticky and honey and citrus-scented. It’s one of those cakes loved by both adults and kids, and it’s very pretty baked in a loaf pan or in individual servings tins.
If you are in the mood for some extra work, I would also make baked fruit, drizzled with honey, to accompany this gooey lemony cake. I have some rhubarb in my fridge and I’ll use it tonight; but crispy apples would be yummy too.
Ladle the soup in some pretty bowls, arrange the cake on a nice tray, throw some logs on the fireplace, and share your goodies with your honeys.
To share some love and get busy in the kitchen, check the recipes below.
If you want to read about the honey event at Carriage Barn Art Center click on the link below:
I love this soup. I used Red Bee currant honey. The smokey notes of cherry, and the undertones of anise, combined with the spiciness of ginger, and the sweetness of carrots, melt together creating a wonderful comforting soup. Good for the soul, and the belly.
I love this soup. I used Red Bee currant honey. The smokey notes of cherry, and the undertones of anise, combined with the spiciness of ginger, and the sweetness of carrots, melt together creating a wonderful comforting soup. Good for the soul, and the belly.
Melt the butter in to a heavy pot, stir in the carrots, onion, garlic, celery and ginger. Sweat gently over low heat for about 15 to 10 mines. Add a sprinkle of salt.
Add the hot stock, stir in one tablespoon of honey, the bay leaf and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes. It's done when the carrots are very soft. Fish out the bay leaf and discard.
Blend in batches or with an immersion blender. Careful, hot liquids explode and burn! Push the soup through a sieve. Don't by pass this step. It's the difference between a mediocre soup and a silky, smooth velvety one. Plus nobody likes to be stuck with ginger fibers in between their teeth.
Put the soup back on the stove, in a clean pot. Add some stock or water to thin it as needed. Add the double cream and the remaining two tablespoons of honey, squeeze a little lemon and reheat gently. Season to taste.
1/2 cupplain flouryou can substitute one cup of grounded pistachio for a gluten free cake
2 cupsground almonds
1teaspoonbaking powder
1/4 teaspoonsalt
For the Honey Lemon Syrup
1 zest and juicelemongrate zest , you can substitute an orange with the lemon
1/2 cupHoney
Servings: people
Instructions
Heat the oven at 350 F. Butter a 9 1/2 inch spring-form pan and line the bottom with parchment.
Beat the, butter, sugar lemon zest and vanilla in a mixing bowl until white and fluffy. You can use a kitchen aid or by hand.
Beat in the eggs one at the time. You can sprinkle in one tablespoon of the flour after each egg to tup the curdling.
Gently fold the remaining flour and almonds, baking powder and a pinch of salt, until smooth.
Spread one the base of the spring-form cake pan and bake until firm to the touch, about 40 minutes.
Take the cake out from the oven and place on a wire rack. Leave in the cake pan to cool completely.
While the cake cools off, make the honey lemon syrup. Gently warm the honey, lemon juice and zest in a small pan over low heat for about 5 minutes. It will be liquid but not boiling.
4tablespoonsHoneyyou might want to warm it up to make runny
Servings: people
Instructions
Preheat the oven at 300 F.
Place the rhubarb in a single layer on an oven proof dish lined with baking paper. Sprinkle the grated orange zest and pour the juice over it. Drizzle the honey and gently mix.
Cover loosely with foil and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until fork tender.
Leave to cool. It can bee kept with the syrupy juices in a sealed container in the fridge for a week.
Silvia’s tray is a combination of my favorite recipes, ideas, stories and foods that I like to eat, cook and share. In the end, Silvia’s Trays it’s about my true passions. Eating, cooking, family, friends, the people I cook for and I eat with and the relentless pursuit for balance, peace and equality.