I made these buns to serve with the Aussie Burgers I prepared for my “Come have some Aussie tucker, mate!” event that I organised as part of Foodbuzz’s 24×24 program. They were sensational! Soft and brioche-like… just like a burger bun should be. You can see what I mean from the pictures below… the dough…
MINI VEGEMITE AND CHEESE SANDWICHES
Vegemite is probably the most iconic Australian product. Wiki describes it as “a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract. […] Vegemite is made from used brewers’ yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, various vegetables, wheat and spice additives. It is salty, slightly bitter, and umami or malty – similar to beef bouillon.” …
FOODBUZZ 24X24: COME HAVE SOME AUSSIE TUCKER, MATE!
Even though I am Italian, I have been living in Australia for the past 6 years. I love this country so much that I have formally become Australian a couple of years ago and I consider myself Australian as much as Italian. Australia is a wonderful country where people from different cultural backgrounds live together. …
GNOCCO FRITTO
Today’s Regional Italian dish comes from the region of Emilia Romagna, an area where you find some of the best Italian food. Prosciutto di Parma, Mortadella, Culatello, Parmigiano Reggiano, Tortellini, just to name a few, all come from here. It is “foodie heaven” and I cannot recommend it enough for a taste of amazing Italian…
CABBUCI
If you are a regular reader, you will know that I have spent almost every summer holiday in Sicily up until I moved to Australia. I used to stay at a place called San Vito lo Capo, the same place where the Couscous Fest takes place. It is a beautiful little village with one of…
RÖSTI – ROESTI
The Daring Cooks’ February 2012 challenge was hosted by Audax & Lis and they chose to present Patties for their ease of construction, ingredients and deliciousness! We were given several recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods to produce our own tasty patties! When I read this month’s announcement I was…
SUPER BOWL OR FOOTY NIGHT SUGGESTIONS
I must admit I am no football lover. In fact, the only football I like is soccer… I am Italian after all. After reading quite a bit about the upcoming Super Bowl though, I started thinking that the most fun part about the event would be watching it with friends and family while sharing some…
FALAFEL
The first time I ate falafel I was in Paris… as it often happened with Middle Eastern food that was almost unknown in Italy. I am talking about 20+ years ago! I still remember the shop I bought them from. It was near Place des Vosges, in my favourite area of town: the Marais, which…
PISTACHIO GELATO
Sicily is very famous for its nut production, especially almonds and pistachios. There is a town in the Eastern part of Sicily called Bronte which is reknowed for the quality of the pistachios that grow in the area. I wanted to make ice cream and serve it in a brioche (as it is typically served on…
CROSTINI
Picture this: slices of bread, covered with a thick meat sauce, topped with cheese, breaded and fried. Imagine eating one of these treats… with the slightly melted cheese stretching out into the rich sauce and the crunchy slice of fried bread. Is your mouth watering already? These are crostini and I made them as a…
RAVAZZATE
Ravazzate are yet another great street food dish from Palermo, in Sicily. They are soft buns, filled with a thick and delicious meat sauce, covered in sesame seeds and then baked. I love them! Among all sorts of fried (yet amazing) street food items to choose from, these never fail to be among the items…
PANELLE
Panelle are, together with cazzilli and arancine, the most famous Sicilian street food, and that is why I immediately knew I had to feature them on the menu of the Sicilian Street Food New Year’s Eve Party I organised for this month’s Foodbuzz 24×24 event! They are delicious on their own when eaten hot, but…
MAFALDE – MAFALDINE
Mafalde are typical bread rolls from Palermo, in Sicily. They are very easy to make and are great to accompany any dish. You can make them as dinner rolls, or serve them in a more traditional way: filled with hot panelle. When planning the menu for the Sicilian Street Food New Year’s Eve Party I…
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…
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!
MULTI GRAIN PANINI
My girls love bread. They would eat bread all day long if I let them! So, in an attempt to give them something healthier, I am baking more bread than I used to. And I have taken up baking whole meal or multi grain breads more than white bread. This is a very easy recipe…
CHICKEN SHAWARMA – COOK AROUND THE GLOBE
I often associate memories with food (or food with memories?) and eating kebab always reminds me of Paris. Strange, eh? Well, not so much. As I have already mentioned in my post on Fried Rice, foreign food restaurants and eateries were not so common while I was growing up in Italy. And that too in…
TARATOR SAUCE
Do you know that sauce that looks like hummus whenever you order a kebab at your favourite kiosk? Well, that’s tahini sauce… or tarator sauce. I love its intense and tangy flavour and I always order it with my kebab! I also found out it is pretty easy to make at home and it has…
WHOLE MEAL PITA
I love home made bread. I think there is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread in the house, at any time of the day. Maybe not many of you know, but some of the best bakers in Milan are actually of Arab origin. And they make fantastic bread. One of my favourite…
PIADINE WITH SWEET FILLINGS
Some time ago I shared with you my friend Marco’s recipe for piadine. They are a fantastic bread-like street food from Romagna in Italy, filled with all sorts of yummy goodies. I shared with you the recipe of a savory piadina filled with stracchino, prosciutto slices and rocket salad and I can tell you that…
BAGUETTES
As many of you already know I spent quite some time holidaying in France as a child. My parents have always loved our transalpine cousins and whenever possible they would squeeze in a few days to visit France. I wasn’t too happy about it back then… l would have preferred to visit different places… not…
FOODBUZZ 24×24: CHRISTMAS IN JULY
Since I moved to Australia from Italy 5 years ago I haven’t gotten used to the “reversed” seasons yet. For someone who has spent the majority of her life in the Northern hemisphere where it is summer in July and winter in December, I have to live with the seasons reversed and believe me, it…
PANINI AL LATTE – MILK PANINI
I guess we all have memories of our childhood birthdays… I was born in February which is often the month of Carnevale in Italy, so I used to have dress up birthday parties. It was a lot of fun. There would be games, prizes, music and lots of laughter! If I think back about the…
VICTORIA’S 4TH BIRTHDAY
As many of you know, these last few days have been quite hectic for me as I have been organising my eldest daughter’s birthday. Victoria turned 4 on July 16th and we had a nice and quite family day. We hid her birthday presents and she had fun finding them and opening them. She loved…
POACHED CHICKEN BREASTS IN A MINT SAUCE
This is a very fresh recipe, perfect for a summer lunch. In fact, the first time I ate it I was in Sicily and it was indeed summer. My aunt Daniela made it and I was really impressed both by the vivid green color and by the fresh yet delicate mint flavour. If you have…
PIADINA AND CRESCIONE – MARCO’S RECIPE
A few days ago I made and shared with you the recipe of my first piadina: Homemade piadina with prosciutto, stracchino and rocket. When I shared it on my Facebook page, my friend Marco Drudi, who is from the area in Italy where piadine come from, kindly shared with me his family recipe! The ingredients…
