PIECE OF CAKE - CHE TORTA

In love with MARTHA STEWART.COM?

In love with cake?

In love with meringhe?

how about this. Pity to cut it though! And I'm pretty sure that it's not just a piece of cake to prepare!

Da MARTHA STEWART COM ho preso questa foto e ho pensato:

AMI le torte?

AMI le meringhe?

Guarda un po che torta....e scommetto che a farlo mica uno scherzo...o no?

It's ALL UPHILL - IN SALITA

If I had a really good digital camera this foto would be an exceptional testimonial of what life is like these days.....all uphill and heavy loads to pull right up the grade. Of course what you are looking at is a very small ant who decided to be the little red locomotive that could. The pear stem which he/she? is pulling is enormous considering everything. It is on a rock step, flat and nubby. The little ant who could is heading uphill on the backdrop of the step.....

Metafora della vita moderna tutta in salita. Formica piccina che decide di portare al nido un peduncolo di pera....tira tira attraverso il gradino e adesso inizia la salita sulla parte ripida del batti piede al fondo alzata.....logicamente avessi una macchina fotografica un po più potente sarebbe ancora più bello i sforzi del nostro/nostra piccolo/a Hercules.

Note that two ants are watching carefully as our hero/heroess? stoutly and bravely pulls and sweats(ants do sweat don't they) whilst yanking the pear stem up up up towards the top of the backdrop of the stair. We're all going uphill lately aren't we?

Stavo riflettendo sul fatto che la vita in questo momento per tutti è un po in salita. Guarda poi le due formiche che sorvegliano il lavoratore. O che siano solo colleghi e passanti, molto al italiano, che diano istruzioni e incoraggiamento a chi fatica. Un po a mo di quelli degli enti pubblici che per fare un buco di 50 cm mandano una squadra di 5....ce forza nei numeri?

And with this last foto of our hero/heroess? who has scaled his/her M. Everest with stem held firmly in her/his mouth....what can be said? It's all uphill folks....but if he/she can do it. How much you want to bet that we'll pull through?

E con quest'ultima foto del nostro eroe che scala ultimo pezzo del suo Everest con peduncolo pera saldamente in bocca/becco?...cosa posso dire? Se ce la fa lui/lei, forse possiamo anche noi?....a dispetto tutto/i?

PORCINI PORCINI

Ok, so the lighting isn't so good. Caused by the sun shining on the food dryer which is drying the PORCINI which seem to have been invading the house lately. Tis the season of PORCINI here in the Appenines where humidity has reigned supreme and philanthropic Porcini collecting friends have been leaving bags(literally not figuratively folks) on our gate. They come in various sizes(the bags not the Porcini) but have been put to sleep in the freezer in various forms. In this case all the caps are being dried. The legs were wormy(yuck) so they were dumped. End of last month a friend gave us a huge basket full of Porcini and those pretty saffron ones(forgot the name in English - sorry). Porcini beautiful, hard and healthy were cut into big slices and frozen on trays then stuck into bags for Winter. The Chanterelles(that must be the name of the saffron ones) were just cut into chunks and bagged for RISOTTO, SAUCE, OMELLETTES!!!!! YUMMY YUMMY....how's that for our neighborhood?

La stagione dei porcini qui da noi vuol dire sacchetti appesi al cancello con dentro PORCINI o GALLETTE o altro che vengono lavorati con l'asciugatore della SEVERIN(non è propagando per loro mi raccomando ma funziona molto bene la macchina - almeno affinche cerchi di fare una foto attraverso il coperchio con il sole contro ). I porcini piu belli sono stati surgelati su piatti grossi e poi messi nei sacchetti con cura per essere usati fritti o altro. Le teste belle con gambe vermate(gambe buttate ovviamente) sono state tagliate a fettine spesse e asciugate. Le gallette sono state messi a tocchi dentro sacchetti di plastica da gustare con sughi, in frittate, you name it. Comunque non si può assolutamente lamentare di un vicinato dove ti lasciano sacchi e sporte piene di PORCINI...o sì?

BUTTER DIY - BURRO FAI DA TE

The results are in the collander sitting on a gauze waiting to drain off the last of the whey...HEY - for 2 cups of really good pastr chef WHOLE FATTY WONDERFUL cream I made a cup of butter...DIY or ALL BY MY little self...with the help logically of a tiny mom's helper(foto below).

Risultato sono nel colapasta seduto su una garza non tanto per comodita suo ma perche deve stare un pochino in frigo che perda acquosità. Direi che è stato un esperimento eccellente....mezzo litro di PANNA FRESC intera tipo per pasticcieri ha reso 250 grammi di meraviglioso burro fatto da me....con aiuto logicamente della macchinetta piccina nella foto di sotto.

FRESH HOMEMADE BUTTER:

2 cups of fresh whole cream(the highgrade type which pastry chefs use!)

a pinch of salt

a little blender like the one up top or a kitchenaid or whoever you have on the counter....

just do this - put the icey cold fresh cream into the machine. Turn on the machine to slow and gradually augment speed until it is really whirring. After a minute or two add the pinch of salt without stopping the machine...keep whirring until you notice the butter separating from the liquid. Happens so quickly that you'll be surprised. At this point stop the machine, peek inside and you should have a big lump of fresh butter sitting happily in it's whey...take out the butter(dump the whole lot into the collander into which you have placed a big gauze and the whey slips down into the bowl - DUH! - I figured that out the second time I made the butter) The collander gets put over a glass bowl to catch the whey which continues dripping out of the butter. Put it into the fridge and await the magic...after 24 hours the butter is nice and hard and the whey is in the bowl underneath. Don't dump the whey! by the WHEY (HAHA) you can use it to make a pudding....figure that out on your own though. I still haven't made mine...probably cus I'm considering a quick try making RICOTTA. Fill you in on the results later!

Burro fai da te è tanto semplice:

mezzo litro di panna fresca da pasticciere(il migliore perche piu grasso)

1 pizzico di sale fino

macchinetta come quella sopra o qualunque kitchen robot. Versare panna dentro il bicchierone del robot. Accendere a velocità slow poi aumentare a velocità alta(dopo un attimo mettete dentro quel pizzico di sale fino senza ridurre velocità) affinche notate, e questo succede in un attimo proprio, il burro che si separa dallo siero. Quando succede questo vuol dire che il tuo burro è pronto. Toglia burro dalla macchina e metterlo su una garza dentro una colapasta rete fine sopra una ciotola di vetro per cogliere lo siero che, senz'altro avete capito dovete versare sopra il burro). O se siete piu intelligente di me avrete già versato dentro il colapasta dove il burro si piazzerà felicemente sulla garza e lo siero scivolerà dentro la ciotola....finendo in breve NON buttate via lo siero perche serve per fare PANE(Non so per cosa si usa ma so che serve a qualcuno), budini e per quello che proverò io questo pomeriggio-----RICOTTA. poi vi dirò!

ZAKUSKA Ligure

http://forum.gamberogrosso.it/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=124&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=zakuska+Ligure

diciamo che oggi sono pigra e la ricetta originale era qui, più le modifiche ligure e poi così vi faccio conoscere anche gli amici Gamberi...

Buon lavoro e mi raccomando diveritevi!

Ligurian ZAKUSKA

Ok so today you get the separation of the recipes like the division of the Red Sea in the Bible. Only I bet that Moses didn't have trouble with his cane or whatever the way I have trouble when my fingers accidentally tap some keys which I never remember afterwards..could be convenient to know which ones to tap to automatically flip the post to the publish position...anyhow, as I was saying...These are three half kilo jars of very red saucy Ligurian ZAKUSKA . The story is that a Turin friend has the original recipe which is Romenian Zakuska...mostly eggplant peppers and onion whilst I had the problem of a veggie garden which was and still is for that matter overrun with zucchini so this is what I invented:

1 lb of purple onions(we only plant those) - peeled and cubed tiny

1 lb of zucchini (light colored green is better) cubed tiny

1 lb of eggplant (long ones if poss if not whatever you can get) cut into larger cubes which you put into a huge collandar and lightly salt, toss them around a bit in the collandar to distribute the salt evenly

1 lb of red peppers and yellow peppers ... cut into small cubes

1 liter of really good tomatoe sauce with basil and various already in it(Prince anyone?)

HUGE gigantic frying pan with about a cup of olive oil in it. Don't make those faces folks. We're talking about an enormous quantity which will go into big 1 lb jars(or whatever size you prefer but not smaller than 1/2 LB please) so the oil gets distributed. In the oil in the pan first put the onions and sautee about 15 minutes once they start sizzling. They should get transparent but not crispy.

Then add the zucchini and do the same...not crispy but al dente.

Then add the peppers and do the same as the zucchini - al dente.

Then at the end add the eggplant which you have RINSED really well and patted dry(maybe I should write this up top but too bad, it's already here - which will teach you to always read the entire recipe before embarking on a new one - RECIPE USE 101 -thank you NAHMOE (ma maternal gram). These should be cooked till al dente and it doesn't take a long time.

In all you have been hooked to the stove for about 45 minutes. At this point you only need to pour in the liter of tomatoe sauce, stir really well and let it cook for another 20 minutes permitting the sauce to permeate all the veggies. Turn off the stove, add salt to taste and put the cover on the pot leaving some space between pot and cover so the steam goes out.

Now while you're waiting for the stuff to cool go do something else.....like sterilizing enough jars of chosen size....

tahtahtah...when the stuff is completely cool you must have cool jars ready. fill leaving some headspace, seal with cover and then you must put them into a cold water bath. I wrap the jars in old napkins and put an old washcloth on the bottom of the pot to keep the pots from sitting on the metal. Put the pot on the stove, bring to the boil and sterilize for 40 minutes. Let cool in the water of the sterilization...

logically if you have one of those fancy sterilizing pots the process is different...do it as per instructions you have for the pot.

When cool, dry jars, check caps to make sure they're vacuum sealed(if not you just eat the stuff in the jar - I never reseal a cap since I usuall am so busy cooking the stuff to can that I can happily use the unsealed jar for a dinner or lunch)write date on the glass with an indelible marker - no longer use tags just pretty colored markers. And put them in the larder in the dark so they are ready for:

stew bases

spaghetti sauce

base for bean cassarole

antipasto if you put tuna in it and some vinegar....it's up to you !

GARDEN's BOUNTY - ORTO che rende

The first thing you have to do when you read this is imagine that the plastic thingy is not floating in the air but sitting on the kitchen sink counter - forgot to flip pic to the left when I modified. You could flip the screen onto its left side but then if you have a laptop it would be a bit of a problem to tap on the keys....no kidding. Next time I'll do better. This was the garden's bounty from Friday afternoon...it has, in the meanwhich become...an eggplant parmaesan(hence the slices of eggplant below...and also a pot full of sauteed summer veggies in which I will put tomato sauce in a little while(Ligurian Zakuska) both recipes of which will be forthcoming...

Con un po di buon volontà potete capire benissimo che la ceste di verdure sul lavandino no sto veramente galleggiando a mezz'aria ma sto imbarazzata nella foto non modificato nella direzione giusto. Prima o poi mi ricorderò di fare tutto prima. Nel mentre usate l'immaginazione o girate lo schermo del vostro computer sul versante sinistro - che renderà inservibile la tastiera per voi che state leggendo su laptop. Pazienza. Orto di M rende tantissimo in questi giorni. Questo era solo la raccolta di ieri sera che oggi sta diventando Zakuska Ligure(verdure soffritte con salsa pomodoro) e le fettine nella foto sotto che stanno languendo sotto un strato leggero di sale fino sono già state fate a parmigiana nel MOnde e pappate oggi a pranzo(Grazie Ivana per la ricetta facile facile anche se la tua era di zucchini!)

these are the eggplant slices which I layed on the drain board and on which i sprinkled a skimpy layer of salt so that the bitter water would drain out. The huge frying pan with two handles which you see below is a gift from my Turin friends. It is so big that4 kilograms of fresh veggies all cut into little cubes fit right into it. Guess that they knew that I needed a mastodontic pan.

I Gamberi che leggono qui riconosceranno il mio molto amato padellone....un salva vita non indifferente per le 4 kg di verdure necessari per la Zakuska Ligure....