Take an evening with friends, put the passion for the American food… and compose your burger as you like!
To me, I love it like that: toasted fresh bread, mayo, 200gr of meat flavored with herbs and onions, Asiago cheese, sliced bacon, ketchup, fresh tomatoes and caramelized onions… and of course home-made chips!
Perfect evening.
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21 PostsHamburger della casa
Traditional Christmas cookies with cinnamon
This year the traditional Christmas cookies are made in France. I visited a friend there and this is the result of our cooperation. Surely this recipe by Christophe Felder will spread cinnamon and anise fragrance in your kitchen. Actually mostly in the northern part of Europe cinnamon is the base flavor for many cookies, by years for me this smell has became a synonymous of Christmas days!
This recipe is very easy to make, and you can have cookies in any shapes simply by using cookie cutters… for Christmas there will be stars for sure!
You can find the recipe and all direction also from my friend’s website at RoadToPastry.
Ingredients
250g Pastry flour
125g Granulated sugar
65g Almond flour
125g Unsalted butter
1/4 Orange zest
1/4 Lemon zest
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Ground anise
1 Egg
1 Egg yolk
1 teaspoon Kirsch liqueur
1/2 pinch Salt
Directions
1. Place the sifted flour, sugar, ground almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, anise, the fruit zests and the cold, diced butter in a bow.
2. Work the ingredients quickly with the tip of your fingers until they are all mixed and of a sandy texture.
3. Incorporate the eggs and the liqueur with your hands or (better) with a spatula.
4.Try to make a ball and then knead twice by crushing the dough in small pieces with a dough-cutter or the palm of your hand. This will allow to give consistence to the dough without over kneading it.
5. Wrap in plastic, flatten and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
6. When the dough is cold, roll it out to a 4mm height on your slightly floured work surface. Cut the cookies in different shapes with cookie cutters or with a sharp knife.
7. Place them the cookies in a buttered and floured pan.
8. Bake at 180° for 13-15 minutes
Brownies
I can’t imagine life without chocolate. This autumn I discovered how easy and gratifying it is to make a typical recipe from the United States recipe. I am talking about brownies, this traditional American baked cake, that is a cross between a cake and a cookie.
The ingredients are few and it really takes a short time to make this tasty!chocolate cake. Also by combining and adding nuts, frosting, whipped cream, chocolate chips, or other ingredients you can obtain really nice versions.
In this case I took the recipe and all direction from a friend’s website at RoadToPastry.
Ingredients
250g Unsalted butter (room temperature)
225g Chocolate (70%)
250g Eggs (~ 4)
560g Granulated sugar
225g Pastry flour
1 pinch Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Coffee extract (optional)
100g Pecan or walnut pieces
Powdered sugar (optional)
Directions
1. Melt the chocolate and butter to 49° in a bain marie
2. Whip the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 10 minutes. Add the salt and extracts at the end.
3. Scrape down the bowl, then add the melted chocolate, blending until well combined
4. Add the flour and mix until combined
5. Fold in the nuts
6. Spread the batter onto a paper-lined pan (don’t tap it after filling it). Bake at 160° until the center is set, approximately 40 minutes
7. Cool completely before cutting. Dust the brownies with powdered sugar if desired.
Soffioni Abruzzesi
Some days ago I did for the first time the “Soffioni Abruzzesi”, literally “Dandelion of Abruzzo”. I always tough that it was a complicated cake to do, but eventually it was not so complicated and I decided to share my experience with the full recipe and a small video.
The “Soffioni” are small cakes typical in the Abruzzo region. They look like a kind of “cupcake” but biting them you will discover the tasty, softy and fresh stuffed made by “ricotta”, an whey cheese made from sheep, and freshness and smell of lemon. More easy is the reason why they are called dandelion indeed the stuffed wile is cooked swells up as if someone had blown in.
I find them good for every occasion although they were typical at Easter time. Of course there are many version of the recipe accordion to areas where they are made. This my version, how we do in my house!
Ingredients for 12 Soffioni
– For the pastry
Flour (00 sort) 300 gr
2 Eggs + 1 yolk
Granulated sugar 80 gr
Extra virgin olive oil 50 ml
– For filling
Sheep Ricotta cheese 400 gr (Before to start remember to place the “ricotta cheese” in a colander and let it drain meshed for at least 2 hours)
Granulated sugar 100 gr
4 Eggs
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Direction
1. Start with the pastry, take a large bowl and pour the flour, and than add the sugar, the oil and the 2 eggs plus the yolk.
2. Knead to obtain a smooth and firm dough, which will have a consistency similar to that of the pasta and Wrap it in cling film and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes, the time to prepare the filling.
3. Meanwhile prepare the filling: grated zest of one lemon and set aside in a small bowl. Then separate the yolks from the whites, pour into a bowl or a bowl of a planetary, add the sugar and mix until the mixture is light and fluffy.
4. At this point sieved the ricotta (that you had put to drain) and add it into the frothy mixture. Finally, also joined the lemon zest that you had put aside, mixed and transferred into a bowl. Remember not to mix for too long, otherwise you mount the ricotta.
5. Apart whip the egg whites very gently with half a teaspoon of sugar to make them softer. Add them to the cream made with ricotta and mix well together.
6. Now roll out the dough until it reaches a thickness of about 3 mm. Divide the dough into 12 squares, which will measure around 10×10 cm.
Grease with butter a muffin mold or single cups with a paintbrush and dusting flour.
7. After start to arrange the squares of pastry within the spaces, making sure to leave out the flaps. Then pour about 60 grams of cream in each square of pastry. After pouring the cream, fold the flaps inward.
8. After filling all 12 molds, bake in oven preheated to 180 degrees for 30 minutes, once after the first 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 160 degrees and cook for another 35 minutes. (if you use a ventilated oven, bake at 160 degrees for 20 minutes and then lower the temperature to 140 ° and cook for another 25 minutes). When the heads will be golden brown, they are ready. Let them cool and remove gently from the molds. Sprinkle your “Soffioni”with icing sugar and serve!
Bacalhau com Natas
I have get use to this recipe since last year when I travelled in Portugal. Especially I remember that I have tasted this in a nice restaurant in Bairro Alto after a daily trip around Lisbon.
In those days I had so much Salted Codfish or called Bacalhau than ever, in portugal they are so good in cooking it! Salted Cod is probably the most traditional ingredient you can find in Portugal.
At the end I pick up this recipe that has been my favorite! I enjoy it also in a really nice atmosphere, a typical familiar conduction restaurant where the meals are partnered by the “Fado” music, a typical Portuguese traditional music. It was the traditional place, the songs or simple the great food that I felt in love with it. Since that time I did it many times by myself and this is the recipe.
Ingredients:
(4 persons)
Time of preparation: 50 min
– 400 gr of Salted Cod fish (has to be soaked 24h in advance)
– 400 ml milk
– 1 Onion
– 1 clove of garlic
– Extra-virgin olive oil
– 40 gr tablespoon flour
– 40 gr butter
– 500 gr potato (s)
– grated cheese
– Salt
– Pepper
Direction:
1. Cook the pieces of cod in milk for 5 min.
2. Cut potatoes in small cubes, the onion in thin slices, the squeeze the garlic clove and fry in the olive oil until the onion be soft and clear.
But attention, we want the potatoes more cooked that fried.
3. Drain the cod (save the milk) and undo in splinters and join at the potatoes, let fry slowly and add the salt and the pepper.
4. Make a béchamel sauce with the milk from the cooked cod: put in pan the butter and sprinkle with flour, then add the milk, and stir. Stirring from time to time until thicken.
5. Torn on the oven at 200°C
6. Put this prepared in a tray of oven and spreads in a top with the creams and grated cheese. Let be gratin for 20 minutes. Serve with a fresh salad of lettuce and tomato.
Grilled Aubergine
So, cut the aubergine in slices and gilled it! Than just extra virgin olive oil, salt, diced garlic, a few marjoram and they are ready!
Supplì di Riso
Everybody knows that fried food is always good, and I agree. Today I made this typical Italian dish that comes from Sicily. My Supplì are made with Rise, grana padano, mozzarella and then eggs, flour and bread crumbs to make that delicious crispy crust! Served hot with melted mozzarella are the best!
pistachio ice cream + marshmallow
Yesterday I had a really nice afternoon snack 😀 nothing to say more. 😀
Salmon Tartare
This salmon tartare is a special version of tartare. Sometimes when just you have the desire of something and you can not resist, what you do is just open the fridge and look in it!
So what I could find this time has not be a fresh salmon! That was a problem… but if you, as I, wish to have the tartare you can make it also with smoked salmon. I fond many recipes on the web and I combined in order to obtain a good one with the ingredients I had! And the result is a fast and fresh tartare.
What you have to do is to just to cut in small pieces the slice of salmon, than add oil, salt, pepper, fresh onion and dill than mix up all and add some lemon drops. That’s it!
P.s. I would remind that this in not the original and fully taste tartare!
Seitan
This time I made one of my favorite vegan food the seitan!
I state that I am not vegetarian, as u can see from my older posts 😀 but I usually like to try different kind of foods and so I enjoy also vegetarian food.
Seitan is a food made from gluten, the main protein of wheat. It is made by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starch dissolves, leaving insoluble gluten as an elastic mass which is then cooked before being eaten. Wheat gluten is an alternative to soybean-based meat substitutes such as tofu. Wheat gluten was first developed in China, and historically has also been popular in the cuisines of Japan and other East and Southeast Asian nations. In Asia, it is commonly found on the menus of restaurants catering primarily to Buddhist customers who do not eat meat. [wikipedia]
When I cook it I use to buy directly the flour because it’s easier to do, cheaper, and I get more satisfied! The process it’s really easy, you have just to mix the flour with water (the quantity is written on the package) until u can make a plastic consistency ball. Than knead, for like 20minutes, to activate gluten. Than knead under decreasingly warm water to wash out starch, repeat until the water runs clear.
After that turn on a work surface and form it in to a log. Left it rest. Than cut it in to small peaces (or left it together) and put them in hot water with vegetable and boil together. I used onion, garlic, carrots and zucchini. Cook for 45 minutes. Now the seitan i ready for every recipes!
I like to make a stew with sauteed vegetables and seitan pieces! Maybe because after the process to make seitan I always get hungry and I can not wait to eat it!