Who’s up for a drink?? Today I want to show you how to make one of my all time favourite cocktails: Cuba Libre (or Rum and Coke). It is really very easy and does not require any particular skill… it is basically a mix of… rum, coke and lime juice on ice According to the…
Archives for April 2013
PUMPKIN RISOTTO
Today’s recipe is from Lombardia, the region of Italy I grew up in and it is a very simple risotto made with pumpkin cream. As you know, it is autumn down here in the southern hemisphere… so what’s better than some pumpkin risotto to warm us up? Don’t you just love that orange colour? I…
HONEY AND GINGER PORK STIR FRY
Maybe not everyone knows this, but my eldest daughter has started her first year of “big school” in January. It is all very thrilling and exciting for all of us, though this has also brought a huge change in our routines. Let’s put it this way… I am now spending more time on the trains…
SAUSAGE AND SMOKED SCAMORZA STUFFED EGGPLANT
Today’s recipe is pure comfort food. As days get shorter and the weather gets cooler down here, I do feel the like cooking some hearty and comforting food. I love vegetables, but my husband is a carnivore and he’s never fully satisfied with a vegetarian dinner. This recipe satisfies the whole family as it has…
COCA COLA CHICKEN WINGS
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. Each month you are assigned a participating food blogger to make a recipe from and in turn…
PASSION FRUIT CURD AND LIME TARTS
I had some pasta frolla dough and some Passion fruit Curd sitting in my freezer and I could not wait to use them up… together! You see, pasta frolla is the Italian pie crust that we use to make crostata or simple cookies. So the pairing was really very easy. I just cooked the tarts…
SARDE A BECCAFICO ALLA PALERMITANA
Today’s Regional Italian dish takes us back to Sicily… to Palermo to be precise. It is a very popular dish and like all popular dishes, every family has its own recipe or twist. Also each Sicilian city has its variations. This is my family’s version, from my father’s side… and it is the Palermo version. …
CHICKEN BALLOTINE
For the April Daring Cooks Challenge, Lisa from Parsley, Sage and Sweet has challenged us to debone a whole chicken, using this video by Jacques Pepin as our guide; then stuff it, tie it and roast it, to create a Chicken Ballotine. Wow! What a challenge! I was absolutely thrilled when I saw it! I had never…
STRAWBERRY AND LEMON CHEESECAKE IN A GLASS
Who doesn’t love cheesecakes?? I do! I must say that I discovered them quite late in my teenage years as they are not an Italian “thing” (though now they are quite popular in Italy too). I was in New York for 3 weeks as an exchange student when I was 17 and one of the (many) things…
BANANA, COCONUT AND PASSION FRUIT SMOOTHIE
Lately I have been experimenting quite a bit with smoothies and shakes. The truth is, I have been left with some ripe fruits that needed to be used and I wanted to make something light and healthy with it. Besides, I always find that smoothies are a great way to get my fussy children to…
SPAGHETTI WITH HOME-MADE TOMATO SAUCE
I cannot believe it! I have blogged for over 2 years and I haven’t posted this recipe yet! Spaghetti with home-made tomato sauce form the BASE of Italian cuisine. So much so that Italians refer to this dish as pasta “al sugo”, which means “with sauce”, taking for granted that the sauce is tomato sauce. …
AUNT FRANCA’S RABBIT
Today I want to share with you another one of my family recipes. This is my favourite way to cook and eat rabbit and when I was a child I would choose this dish over chicken any time! I know that rabbit is an unusual meat in many countries around the world, but it is…
STRAWBERRY CRUMBLE BARS
I know I have already said this, but how hard is it to get adjusted to living with inverted seasons?? It is so weird to think of Christmas as a summer holiday or Easter as an autumn holiday… in the same way, April reminds me of spring, sunshine and… strawberries. So, even though it is…
FISH BROTH WITH GARLIC CROSTINI
Today I want to share with you the recipe for a delicious fish broth. It is the same recipe of the broth we use for Fish Couscous, but instead of being used to make couscous, it is served plain with some grilled crusty bread. I love this soup as it is simple, yet full of flavour….
GARAM MASALA AND PRESERVED LEMON HUMMUS
Do you remember I had told you I would be making more food from my friend Rhonda’s site, The Kitchen Witch? When I got assigned her blog for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I had to chose only one recipe to publish on reveal day and I chose her amazing Sweet Chilli and Orange Chicken…