Tuesday, February 9, 2010

TWD : Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia


This week I was sure we were going to eat chocolate ! The recipe was chosen by Tanya of Chocolatechic and she delighted us with this special brownies recipe, I loved the results as the brownies were lighter than usual even if not less sinful !!!


The recipe is quite simple, as a pose to my usual recipe you need to use the mixer bowl too but it's no big deal.
My brownie are fudgier but I'm not sure if I overcooked these I'll have to visit the others to check ! Visit Tanya for the recipe !!


Tuesday, February 2, 2010

TWD : Milk Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes




Kristin of
I’m Right About Everything picked the mini bundt for this week I really didn't know what to expect and started reading the P&Q section of the TWD site. I learned that I could use muffins tins and that I should be very careful about overcooking.
I must say I was very happy about the minis; I made a few in muffin cups and some in my mini flower silicon mold. I put the hazelnuts swirl only in some muffins and on top of the minis because I knew the kids wouldn't like it.
I especially enjoied the melting in your mouth consistency, the kids loved the milk chocolate flavor.
Please visit the other bakers here

Monday, February 1, 2010

Recipes to Rival: Parmigiana di Melanzane


This month Temperama, like me, needed some summer so she chose this recipe from Mario Batali.
Nowadays we can buy eggplant all year around even if I try to buy seasonal most of the time.
I'm really glad I made this parmigiana because it's raining so much in these days in Rome that its smell really helped.
The only change I've made has been to 'fry' the eggplants in the oven.
Please visit the blogroll for more melanzane !


Recipe courtesy Mario Batali

Ingredients
•2 pounds (about 2 medium-sized) eggplant
•Salt
•4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
•1 cup fresh bread crumbs, seasoned with 1/4 chopped fresh basil leaves and 1/4 cup pecorino
•2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
•1 pound ball fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
•1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Wash and towel dry the eggplant. Slice the eggplant horizontally about 1/4-inch thick. Place the slices in a large colander, sprinkle with salt and set aside to rest about 30 minutes. Drain and rinse the eggplant and dry on towels.

In a sauté pan, heat the extra-virgin olive oil until just smoking. Press the drained eggplant pieces into the seasoned bread crumb mixture and sauté until light golden brown on both sides. Repeat with all of the pieces. On a cookie sheet lay out the 4 largest pieces of eggplant. Place 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce over each piece and place a thin slice of mozzarella on top of each. Sprinkle with Parmigiano and top each with the next smallest piece of eggplant, then sauce then mozzarella. Repeat the layering process until all the ingredients have been used, finishing again with the Parmigiano. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the top of each little stack is golden brown and bubbly, about 15 minutes.

Basic Tomato Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Spanish onion, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes
Salt

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve.

This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

Tips:
Fresh bread crumbs are required for the coating to stick without an egg wash.
The oil must be HOT HOT HOT or the eggplant will not cook fast enough and will be a greasy soggy mess.
The Mozzarella must be very thinly sliced or the eggplant tower will slide (it will still taste great)

Culinary tour 2010 - Argentina: Alfajores de Maicena de Ilda


This week I will finally join Joan's new Culinary Tour Around the World in Argentina.
The recipe I chose is the recipe I received from an expert pastry maker from Paraguay, she lives in Sant'Ignatio a town in the Misiones region which now is divided between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. This region's history is both complicated and sad (some of you may remember the film 'Mission').
The sweet called Alfajor has arab origins in Spain between 711 and 1492. It was then exported to South America were now it is considered traditional.



The Alfajores I made are thinner than usual and with less filling but I think the most important thing is the cookie recipe and then each of us can play with it (I'm planning of filling some with lemon curd !).

RECIPE
Combine :
500 gr of flour
500 gr Maizena
350 gr Sugar
2 tsp baking powder
Lemon zest
Vanilla
Add :
4 Eggs room temp
250 gr Butter room temp

And you will see how wonderful this dough is ! No need of refrigerate it it won't shrink or spread just roll it at your desired thickness and bake in a 350°F oven until pinkish then fill with Dulce de leche and roll them in shredded coconut.
Ilda recomends eating them after a couple of days (they are different : taste some right away and compare !)

GRAZIE ILDA !

Sunday, January 31, 2010

I Heart Cooking Clubs : Small Savory Tarts


This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs we cooked for an happy hour party. My colleagues already posted many goodies already, and I hope not to be too late !


When looking at these tartles I was always willing to try them but lazy. Yesterday I finally made them and they were a hit !
The pastry is very very buttery and crumbly: it includes polenta and some shortening (which I ideally don't use like margarine).
For the toppings I used some tomato sauce and grated Parmigiano with cherry tomatoes and olives and for the artichoke ones I made a quiche-like batter with egg and cream and added some sauteed artichokes on top. The pastry is not enough for a crowd and once you make it maybe it would be nice to double the recipe and freeze it.

RECIPE

From 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'

Pastry:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup polenta
1 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (112 gr)
scant 2 TBS vegetable shortening
3-4 TBS iced water

Combine the dry ingredients and add the butter and shortening until it resembles coarse bread crumbs, add the water and bring together and form two discs, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough one disc at a time and drape the dough in the pans, put them back in the fridge for 15 minutes (I think they could be frozen at this point).

Fill with filling of your choice.
Bake in a 400° F oven for about 20 min.



Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Daring Baker's Challenge: Gluten-Free Graham Crackers and Nanaimo Bars



The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.
This month I was very happy to bake something for Silvia my celiac dear friend.
We searched Roma and the net to find the flours needed for the challenge but there is no way to find them in Italy so I used a prepared mix to make the Crackers which were delicious for everybody.
I was very dubious about the filling for the bars because I don't like frostings and everybody was commenting on how sweet this was going to be, so after postponing the problem I decided to make a cheese cake filling and an Avocado Orange cheesecake filling ! I used semisweet chocolate for the topping because the middle layer wasn't very sweet.
I'm very happy Lauren chose this challenge and I'm sure we'll be baking the crackers very often !!

RECIPE

For Gluten-Free Graham Wafers
Ingredients
1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) Sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) Sorghum Flour
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.
2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.
3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.
4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.
5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.
7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.
8. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.
9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Nanaimo Bars
Ingredients:

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:
1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.
3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

For the cheesecake I mixed 75 gr creamcheese with 150 gr sourcream, the juice of two oranges, the zest of one orange an avocado and 1 TBS agar agar dissolved and cooked for 1 minute in the oj. (I would increase the agar agar next time) two yolks and two beaten egg-whites with 3 TBS sugar.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

TWD : Cocoa-Nana Bread


Steph of Obsessed with Baking chose Cocoa-Nana Bread this week and in spite of all the things I made to it it came out very very (VERY) good !
I must say I'm a banana keeper, I don't throw away things with pleasure (Andrea is laughing), so when it comes to overripe bananas I peel them, put them in a plastic bag and stack them in the freezer. The problem is that I have so many now I should have a banana drawer !!
And Steph came to rescue me choosing a banana bread recipe that doesn't taste like bananas !
Because, of course, my kids do not like banana bread but love chocolate !
I read in the P&Q section of many TWDers who do not like chocolate and bananas but I urge you to try this bread It's deliciously moist thanks to the bananas 'but' the flavour is great !


This is what I'm doing instead of baking, is it getting better ?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

BBD # 26 Birthday Party : Focaccia di Recco



This month we get to bake for a big party for Jamie's best than ever Birthday !!!


I was looking for something savory when I thought of focaccia di Recco. It's a very special focaccia made in the town of Recco in Liguria. Usually the paper thin dough is stuffed with a fresh cheese called crescenza (you might know Stracchino or Invernizzina) and baked in a very hot oven until wonderfully crisp. There is even a site dedicated to this focaccia...and I dared to make it !!!!
While browsing the net and you tube I came across the site of a wonderful home baker who moved to the U.S. some years ago from Liguria and loves to share what he learned from his baker's family about bread. Please visit his site: the videos are great !! (click here for the english version but there are less recipes and no focaccia di recco !!)



The dough is really simple:

Mix 200 gr. of water, 50 gr. extravirgin olive oil and 400 gr. bread flour.
Knead it by hand or with you mixer until smooth (it resembles a strudel dough).
Let it rest covered at least 2 hours.
Take 1/4 of the dough and imitate Vittorio
Divide 300 gr stracchino on top.
Cover with another layer of dough.
Tear(!!!!!) some cuts in the dough.
Drizzle some extravirgin olive oil on top and add some cream if you desire.
Bake in the hottest oven until golden.



I know it seems impossible but if I made it I'm sure you can do much better !!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE !!!!



Thursday, January 21, 2010

I Heart Cooking Clubs : Curry in a Hurry



As you can see even if it is Potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs I couldn't leave Thailand !!
This chicken was in a hurry even to photograph !!
The recipe is fantasic :Nigella makes it with frozen vegetables but I used pumpkin and cauliflower from my veggie box.
This curry is super easy and fast: if you have coconut milk, fish sauce and curry paste in your pantry you are set !
Last week I saw the basmati Mary made so I accompanied the chicken with it.
It was such a success we are lucky I got one picture of it !!

INGREDIENTS

2 x 15ml tablespoons wok oil
3 x 15ml tablespoons spring onions, finely chopped
3–4 x 15ml tablespoons green Thai curry paste
1kg chicken thigh fillets, cut into strips about 4 x 2cm
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
250ml boiling water
enough chicken stock concentrate or cube for 500ml water
1 x 15ml tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla)
185g frozen peas
200g frozen soya beans
150g frozen fine beans
3 x 15ml tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
METHOD

1.Heat the wok oil in a large saucepan that owns a lid, drop in the spring onions and cook, stirring for a minute or two, then add the curry paste.
2.Add the chicken pieces and keep turning over heat for 2 minutes, before adding the coconut milk, stock (i.e. the water plus stock concentrate or cube) and fish sauce, then the frozen peas and soya beans.
3.Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the frozen fine beans to the mix and cook for another 3–5 minutes.
4.Serve with rice or noodles, sprinkling the coriander over as you do so. Put out a plate of lime wedges for people to squeeze over as they eat.
ADDITIONAL INFO

If you want to make this with fresh vegetables rather than frozen, then up the water (keeping the amount of stock concentrate the same) and indeed I would double it to 500ml. But if using frozen – which is how I make this 99% of the time, and why it is a great storecupboard standby – I find it easier to use a cappuccino cup, or similar, and measure out 1 1/2 cups of each frozen green veg rather than weigh it. The chicken comes in packets, so that just keeps everything simple and straightforward.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Cake Slice : Red Velvet Cake



This time I finally made it ! It was kind of the last minute baking (as usual) so, while preparing our dinner I baked half recipe of this moist, perfumed and delicious cake , put it outside to cool and frosted just in time for dessert ! Now you can understand the homey look , but the cake it's very good.
I have some trouble with American frostings, in Italy we mostly use whipped cream, jam or pastry cream to fill our cakes so I always find frostings too sweet. This 'cooked milk' one was not bad but next time I'll cut the sugar and see what happens.
The Cake Slice group is cooking from this book, if you have the desire for more red, visit the other bakers, and if you want to try it here is the printable recipe !

Baking from:

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

TWD : Chocolate Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars




Lillian of Confectiona's Realm was in charge this week and she chose something I would have never tried myself : too sweet ! ...But I was wrong ! The bars are sweet of course but not too much and even Carlo liked them (too many nuts but we can arrange that !). Thanks Lillian for this new recipe !!
Please go here for the recipe and visit the blogroll to see al the variations !

Monday, January 18, 2010

BBA Slow and Steady :Italian Bread



Here I come with another misplaced entry Italian Bread ! Wow this is something I'm saying too much but it is Peter Reinhart fault : his recipes are great !! I wouldn't know what bread he refers to saying this bread is Italian; it reminded me of two breads I used to like as a child ( the funny thing is that they are called Corean and Indian 'pane coreano e pane indiano' !) because they are softer thanks to the fats added.
Please visit the BBA site for more informations on the group and the Slow and Steady group ( Kayte, Nancy, Cathy, Audrey, Jessica, Melissa, Wendy, Di, Karen, Natalia, Sarah, Margaret, Tracey, and Leslie) if you enjoy our pace !

Sunday, January 17, 2010

I Heart Cooking Clubs : Thai Yellow Pumpkin and Seafood Curry



This week we are dreaming about Exotic Destinations and I headed est up to Thailand after the Satays and found this delicious soup.
I made it at the last moment (I'm cooking mostly in the evenings which you can guess from the photos !) as it is fast as weel as full of flavour ! Please visit I Heart Cooking Clubs for more exotic food.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

400ml tin coconut milk
1–2 tablespoons yellow (or red) Thai curry paste
350ml fish stock (I use boiling water and a slug of Benedicta Touch of Taste Concentrated Fish Bouillon; cubes would do)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons palm sugar or caster sugar
3 lemongrass stalks, each cut into three and bruised with the flat of a knife
3 lime leaves, de-stalked and cut into strips
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1kg pumpkin (or butternut squash), peeled and cut into large-bite-sized chunks
500g salmon fillet, preferably organic, skinned and cut into large, bite-sized chunks
500g peeled raw prawns
pak choi or any other green vegetables of your choice
juice of 1/2–1 lime, to taste
coriander, to serve

METHOD

1.Skim the thick creamy top off the tin of coconut milk and put it, over medium heat, into a large saucepan or casserole with the curry paste. Let it sizzle and, using a fork, whisk or wooden spoon, beat milk and paste together until combined. Still beating gently, add the rest of the coconut milk, fish stock, fish sauce, sugar, lemongrass, lime leaves and turmeric. Bring to a boil and then add the pumpkin. Cook on a fast simmer until the pumpkin is tender, about 15 minutes, although different sorts of pumpkins can vary enormously in the time they take to cook; some squash take as little as 5 minutes.
2.You can cook the curry up till this part in advance, maybe leaving the pumpkin with a tiny bit of bite to it (it will soften and cook as the pan cools). Either way, when you’re about 5 minutes away from wanting to eat, get ready to cook the seafood.
3.So, to the robustly simmering pan, add the salmon and prawns (if you’re using the prawns from frozen they’ll need to go in before the salmon). When the salmon and prawns have cooked through, which shouldn’t take more than 3–4 minutes, stir in any green veg you’re using – sliced, chopped or shredded as suits – and tamp down with a wooden spoon. When the pak choi’s wilted, squeeze in the juice of half a lime, stir and taste and add the juice of the remaining half if you feel it needs it. Take the pan off the heat or decant the curry into a large bowl, and sprinkle over the coriander; the point is that the coriander goes in just before serving. Serve with more chopped coriander for people to add to their own bowls as they eat, and some plain Thai or basmati rice.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Daring Cook's Challenge : Pork Satay


The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppyliciousand she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

I really enjoy being part of the Daring Cooks especially when we get challenges we have never dared to try or even eat before.
In Rome there are only two Thai restaurants and we are lucky to have one at walking distance. Whatever we order we always get satays even if the owners of the restaurant (I thing they are from Malaysia) being Muslims do not serve pork, so it is chicken satay.
Therefore I was very happy Cuppy chose this recipe that we really have enjoied a lot ! Thank you Cuppy !




RECIPE


Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay Marinade

1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)

Feeling the need to make it more Thai? Try adding a dragon chili, an extra tablespoon of ginger root, and 1 tablespoon (0.5 oz or 15 mls) of fish sauce. (I keep some premature (still green) dragon chili peppers in the freezer for just such an occasion.)

Directions:
1a. Cheater alert: If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the pork and blend until smooth. Lacking a food processor, I prefer to chop my onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.
2a. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.
3a. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.


Chill Chart

PorkBeef/LambChickenVegetablesTofu (no oil)
4-8 hrs
Up to 24 hrs
6-8 hrs
Up to 24 hrs
1-4 hours
Up to 12 hrs
20 min – 2 hrs
Up to 4 hrs
20 min – 4 hrs
Up to 12 hrs

Faster (cheaper!) marinade:

2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (1 oz or 30 mls)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ginger powder (5 mls)
1 tsp garlic powder (5 mls)
1 tsp cayenne pepper (5 mls)

Directions:
1b. Mix well.
2b. Cut pork into 1 inch thick strips (2-2.5 cm thick), any length.
3b. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.

Cooking Directions (continued):

4. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak your skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers.
5. Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.*
6. Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.

* If you’re grilling or broiling, you could definitely brush once with extra marinade when you flip the skewers.


Peanut Sauce

3/4 cup coconut milk (6 oz or 180 mls)
4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
2. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.
3. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

TWD : Mrs. Vogel's Scherben


This week is was Tanna who choose the recipe and it's something I guess you can find with different names in every corner of the world. In Italy we eat them during Carnival along with other fried sweets. In every town they have a different name (and shape sometimes) in Roma they are called frappe and I can't tell you enough how well they were welcomed ! My husband kept saying:' This is the last one !'. Until they were gone.
The recipe is very simple (and luckily doesn't yield a big number of scherben or frappe !) , I didn't add all the liquid it called for and substituted it with sweet wine, and used my pasta rolling machine to make the dough extra thin.
I'd like to thank Tanna for this fun and delicious choice !!
Please visit her for the recipe and the blogroll for more versions (even sin-less oven ones !)


Monday, January 11, 2010

BBA Slow and Steady : French Bread


I know it may seem that I don't know my alphabeth and posted kaiser rolls before french bread, but my first french bread was so awful I had to wait a few days to try it again !!
I used Pate Fermentèe and a little yeast and I'm afraid I overfproofed it a bit or I'm very bad in slashing or both.
The bread was fabulous anyway and I really want to make it another tons of time so I'll get to know its secrets !


The wonderful Nancy recently posted the Slow and Steady roundup for the Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread ... we are moving on !
To check all the bakers of the big group go here !