Maybe not everyone knows that profiteroles, also known as choux pastries, are originally from Italy. In fact, they were introduced in France by Caterina de’ Medici, wife of Henry II of France, together with many other dishes. I love choux pastries or bignè, as we usually call them. They are so light and fluffy and…
Archives for December 2011
SNAPPER EN PAPILLOTE
I am not a huge fan of fish… I like it, but when given the choice, fish is never on top of the list. The truth is, I like fish that is not easily available in Sydney: sardines, anchovies, small mackerel… However, on Christmas Eve, we tried to follow the Italian tradition of eating fish. …
PARMIGIANO REGGIANO FAGOTTINI IN CHICKEN BROTH
In Italy, a typical Christmas Eve dinner always includes some stuffed pasta, better if it is home-made and “di magro” (which means without meat). We often serve this pasta in chicken broth and it is such a comforting food! So, to follow the tradition, I decided to make stuffed pasta and serve it with chicken…
PAIN BRIOCHE
Pâté is one of the things I love the most and it always makes an appearance on our family table for special occasions… and this Christmas Eve was no exception. I also found a quick recipe for pain brioche, which is the ideal bread to serve pâté with… and I am sharing it with you,…
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Today there won’t be any recipe on MsM… it is the time to celebrate and above all it is the time to enjoy the company of your loved ones. My parents have been here for a couple of weeks already and we are all having a great time together. The kids especially are having a…
MAPLE GLAZED SALMON
This has quickly become my family’s favourite way to eat salmon. We all love the sweet and tangy and slightly sticky glaze the maple syrup and mustard give the fish when baked. I particularly like the seeded mustard as I found that it adds a little bit of texture to the dish. I also often…
POLLO ALLA CACCIATORA
This week’s Regional Italian recipe is Pollo alla cacciatora, from the region of Tuscany or, as we say, Toscana. Who does not know Tuscany?? It is probably one of the most beautiful regions of Italy and definitely one of the most visited. And it is one of the regions with some of the best (and most…
PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
It is time again for the “Secret recipe club” reveal! I am sure you all know what the club is about, but for the few of you who still don’t know about it, here goes a brief explanation. It is a great concept… each month you are assigned a participating food blogger to make a…
DULCE DE LECHE
My husband has a very sweet tooth… and he LOVES condensed milk and everything made with it. I must admit that I instead don’t usually like overly sweet desserts… but I have a weakness for anything caramel. A few years ago, in Palenque – Mexico, we had a fantastic dinner in a restaurant called La…
CHAR SIU AND CHAR SIU BAO
Our Daring Cooks’ December 2011 hostess is Sara from Belly Rumbles! Sara chose awesome Char Siu Bao as our challenge, where we made the buns, Char Siu, and filling from scratch – delicious! When I saw this month’s challenge I was really happy as I had already made Char Siu once and we had all liked it, so…
SUPPLÌ AL TELEFONO
Today’s recipe takes us to the Italian region of Lazio. Lazio is a coastal region in Central Italy and it includes Rome, the capital of Italy. Many of the most popular Italian dishes come from this area. They include carbonara, amatriciana, abbacchio, carciofi alla giudia and many more. So stay tuned for more recipes from…
GALETTE BRETONNE À LA FORESTIÈRE
This was my first attempt to recreate a fantastic dish that we ate at Crêperie La Gavotte in Nouméa (New Caledonia) during our holiday in October. A galette bretonne is very similar to a crêpe, but it is made with buckwheat flour and, as the name suggests, it is originally from the French region of…
SALTED CARAMEL MACARONS
This is going to be the 3rd recipe of macarons that I am sharing on my blog. I like all of them: the ones with a White Chocolate and Mint ganache and the ones with Quince Jelly… they are all delicious, but today’s macarons are my all time favourite macarons. I LOVE salted caramel anything…
BACCALÀ ALLA VICENTINA
This week’s Regional Italian recipe takes us to Veneto in North-Eastern Italy. Veneto is among the wealthiest, most developed and industrialised regions of Italy and it is also one of the most visited by tourists, its capital being Venice. It is also the region of other famous places like the beautiful Alpine town of Cortina d’Ampezzo in…
POTATO GNOCCHI WITH GORGONZOLA
This is my favourite sauce for gnocchi. I love all gnocchi served with this sauce: potato, ricotta, flour gnocchi… they all taste fantastic with this sauce. Do you think it might have something to do with the fact that gorgonzola is actually my all time favourite cheese?! 😉 Well, anyhow it is also a very…
CHEESE TWISTS AND PILLOWS
These are great both for parties and for appetizers. I made these for Georgia’s birthday party but have also served them with a chilled glass of white wine before a more formal dinner. At first I wanted to make only the basic cheese twists, but then decided to spice them up a bit and make…
GEORGIA’S 2ND BIRTHDAY
As some of you already know, these last few days have been quite hectic for me as I have been organising my youngest daughter’s birthday. Georgia turned 2 today (on December 1st) and we had a nice, quite family day as we had a little birthday party for her last Sunday with some of our…
MINI SANDWICHES WITH CHÈVRE AND SUN-DRIED TOMATOES
I made these for my daughter Georgia’s 2nd birthday party. They are very easy to make and taste delicious. The filling can be used as a dip or as a spread for bread or crackers. I love the orange colour too!