The Kitchen Pantry

Ah, la vendange!

This year we had the wonderful possibility to participate to a photo vendange (thanks Marco!) with other Flickr people in Oltrepò Pavese.

Oltrepò Pavese is a part of Lombardy, just south of the Po (”oltre” means beyond), lavishly filled with castles, hills, and, of course, grapes!

We had the opportunity to visit Tenuta il Bosco and its extensive grapes fields. The actual harvest tooked place 2 days before we went there, but it was quite inspiring and fascinating even without the grapes…

Few where still there

And of course, after the tour, well, we drank

Have you ever been in Oltrepò Pavese? Tell us everything about it!

Or better, the best pizza dough I’ve ever made!

As you know, I’m Italian, and for some types of food I’m so snob! One of them is pizza, no wonder! Pizza was invented in my country, and any pizza I ate out of the border of Italy were practicly disgusting! Aka, I’m a food snob (but I don’t think I’m telling you anything new!)

But this pizza dough is really one of the best I’ve ever tried!

Maybe it’s because it rests overnight in the fridge, so it can develop a good texture…

Maybe it’s because it made with high gluten flour…

Maybe it’s because it’s knead for a long time…

Maybe it’s because there is a good amount of water…

Maybe are all this features together…

At the end you get a very thin pizza, like the pizzerie here in Milan…

One was topped with tomato sauce (quickly pre cooked with garlic and olive oil), Italian sausages (100% pork meat) and mozzarella, added only the last 3 minutes.

The other was always with the same tomato sauce, ricotta and arugula, added once out of the oven.

I have other pieces, and I think I’m going to freeze them for the future!

Check out all the other Daring Bakers!

Yep, still here!

I haven’t blogged for 1 moth and half, doomed working too much on a new job…

And I realized 3 thing:

- Working too much is not worth it

- I missed my blog, desperately!

- Life is too short and I would love to spend most of our time having fun and ejoying it…

So, back to life

And back to the old good habits Shall I really explain you how to make this French classic???

Please…

Les eclairs sans glaçage sont moche!

That’s what my French husband declaired while we were discussing about this Daring Baker recipe! And who can disagree with him? Sure not us Daring Bakers!

When I saw that this month’s recipe was Eclairs au chocolat I was absolutely pleased! And when I read that they were a Pierre Hermè recipe, well, I was in heaven! And I think I wasn’t the only one, right?

The best part about a Pierre Hermè recipe is that they are absolutely infallible! It’s impossible something can go wrong: they are just perfect!

I’m in heaven… And my husband too!

Bottarga! I just love bottarga!

I’m lucky enough to have a friend who’s half Sardinian and everytime she visits her relatives in Alghero she always bring me back bottarga! And fresh bottarga is something you’ll never want to live without!

One fo the best way to enjoy it is sure iver a slice of warm bread, spread i with a bit of butter and plenty of bottarga thin slices!

The other great way is with spaghetti and cherry tomatoes, grated!

I really love bottarga!!!

Yesterday was market day! In an almost desert Milan (mid august is the biggest holiday in Italy), we were able to still find some stalks at the local market with wonderful fruits and veggies. Among those, squishy ripe apricots…

Well, what can I possibily do with a kilo of squishy-ripe fresh apricots if not an apricot sorbet???

And which recipe is best for an Apricot sorbet if not a David Lebovitz one???

Form the perfect scoop, where you can find other recipes with apricots, the one for apricot sorbet fitted perfectly with the king of apricots I had!

David instruct for 1 kilo of squishy-ripe apricots (oh, yes!), 250 ml of water and 200 g of sugar, plus few drops of almond or vanilla extract.

Surprisingly enough, I had everything in the house

Pan, water, halved apricots, cook few minutes, add sugar, add vanilla extract, let cool, mix, freeze, mix, freeze, mix, freeze, mix, freeze, mix, serve!

Et voila!

Enjoy!

I grew up in a home surrounded by a garden. Just outside the window of my bedroom there was, and still is, a big hazelnut tree. simple branches during the winter, but a lot of leaves from spring! It’s one of my favourite tree, not because is beautiful or anything, but simply because it witnessed a lot of what was going on in my life! I used to do everything in my bedroom, except eating and watching tv
I remember entire afternoons spent picking up hazelnuts from the ground, together with my dog… I remember entire afternoons eating them too!
And I remember one of our dogs eating them with much pleasure! He was cracking the shells with his teeth and eating the hazelnut inside, all happy for the compensation of his efforts!
All this to state that hazelnut were part of my everyday late summer life for all my childhood!
Since I don’t live any more with my parents hazelnut appear in our home only during Christmas time. A big Italian tradition is to end every meal during Christmas and New Year celebrations with a dish filled with nuts, to crack them while chatting around the table or playing cards…
So I wan very pleased when I saw this new Daring baker recipe!!!

And the final result was astonishing! I made it for the 60th birthday of my dad and all my family was superpleased! My aunts and uncles were all happy

Daring bakers make the world happy

PS: I know the picture is not up to the normal standards, but we were in a crowded restaurant and you know how people react when you take picture of food, don’t you? But it shows the layers

PS2: I know it’s 1 moth I do not update the blog, I know I haven’t yet finished the Morocco Series, but I started a new job and I still have to find a routine… But I will!

One summer afternoon, Sara-Piperita goes to her usual Support Group: Anonymous Daring Bakers Challenged With Some Basic Preparation, ADBCWSBP (meetings every end of the month, day vary).
As usually, she meets with her fellow companions (some very skilled!!!), but this time is her turn to step in front of everybody and speak about the dreadful challenge of all…
“Hi, my name is Piperita and I’m puff pastry (and similar) challenged…”
A cheerful “Hi Piperita” comes from the audience…
Then she begin, tears dropping form her eyes, to tell her story…
“My problems with puff pastry began many years ago. Everybody love to make puff pastry. And many people told me that it is so simple that even a child can do it… I never could… I was always too hasty, or too afraid, or the room was too hot, or the pastry simply wouldn’t puff…
I tried many recipes, work it in many ways, but nothing: I simply couldn’t… It has always been one of the big flaws of my life…”
When she finishes, everybody stand up and begin to hug her… She feels sightly relived…
Then Kelly and Ben come up to the group and they begin to explain that they have the perfect recipe for Danish puff pastry. [Danish is slightly different form "normal" puff pastry, as it uses yeast to boost puffness...]
Piperita begins to cry again, mummling: “No, no, I possibly cannot… I even tried Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Danish, where she allegedly says it’s possible to make it with a mixer, with not so many turns and time, but even with that easy peasy recipe, I couldn’t!”
Kelly and Ben try to comfort her, to convince her to give a try…
She finnaly surronder…
Sara- Piperita gave a try to Kelly and Ben Danish pastry…
Sara-Piperita isn’t anymore afraid of Danish pastry or puff pastry!
Sara-Piperita succeded!!!
Now she can concentrate on the rest of her unberable flaws…

Marco Sara, a young wine maker from Friuli, one of the eastern region of Italy: he has just 3 acres and he make just 3 wines: Picolit, Mufis and Verduz! One better than the other! My husband, who is a sommelier and he’s acknowledged among our acquaintances as a fierce wine critic, after trying them, said: “Astonishing!” That was a first, I can tell you! Thanks to Filippo Ronco, who told us we should try them!

Or like Emidio Pepe, a wine maker from Abruzzo, making bio-dynamic wines that will last for ever, like the astonishing Trebbiano d’Abbruzzo 2001 we were lucky enough to have at La rucola in Sirmione: a white that had no problem to cast all its flavors even over roasted lamb.

Or like Villa Corniole and its bronze colored Pinot Gris, made from a maceration on its skins for a few days : a color and a taste that you’ll remember for the rest of your life…

We had the pleasure and the honor to try those and many other wines at Terroir Vino, an interesting fair of wine producers mainly from Italy (but there were two French, and you could feel the different approach with communication: French are, astonishing enough, so nice when they come to wine speech!).
Forget Vinitaly and its Barnum circus: get back to basic! A desk, few bottles of wine, some pieces of Ligurian focaccia, and your glass: that will make your day and your tasting experience!