I love cooking. Or maybe more accurately - I love eating. I enjoy trying out food from different countries.
When I visited Italy in 2004, we spend a weekend at a
Tuscany Bed & Breakfast and learnt how to cook authentic Italian food. We made cantuccini, handmade pasta, roasted rabbit, etc.
It was a lot of fun.
Biscotti derived from 'bis' meaning twice in Italian and 'cotto' meaning baked. It is said to have originated during Columbus's time and credited to
an Italian baker who originally served them with Tuscan wines. They became so popular that every province developed their own version.
Cantuccini is the most famous Tuscan biscotti, renowned for the way it’s eaten, soaked in Vin Santo.
It’s a simple, rustic dessert which has its origins in the countryside where farmers had everything available to make it themselves,
in fact all that’s needed is eggs, flour, sugar and almonds and there was always a plentiful supply of Vin Santo.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
3 eggs and 3 egg yolks
2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 lemon zest
1 cup sliced almonds
50g unsalted butter (half a stick)
Steps:
Mix flour and sugar. Add eggs. Add baking powder, vanilla, zest, and butter.
Use folding motion to mix the ingredients together until a dough is formed. Add sliced almonds.
Continue to knead the dough until all ingredients are mixed in.
Preheat oven at 350°F. Buttered the baking sheet.
Divide the dough into 4 sections and form each piece into a flattish log 12 inches long, 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.
Arrange the logs at least 2 inches apart on the sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.
Cool the log on baking rack and cut the logs at a diagonal angle into 1/2 inch thick slices.
Place them back on the baking sheet on the side and bake for 8 minutes.
Turn them over and bake for another 8 minutes.
The city of Chongqing, located in the fertile Chinese province of Sichuan, enjoys a reputation for its outstanding gastronomy. One of the
specialties is a hot pot—diners cook their choice of ingredients in a flavorful, bubbling stock and then dip the food into seasonings such as chili oil.
Ingredients:
8 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast, very thinly sliced< br />
8 oz. beef tenderloin, very thinly sliced
8 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 oz. assorted dried mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 25 minutes
1/4 small head napa cabbage, thinly sliced
1 1/2 oz. bean thread noodles, soaked in cold water to cover for 10 minutes, drained and cut into 4-inch lengths
1 cup bean sprouts
Chili oil (optional)
Freshly ground Sichuan pepper (optional)
For the hot pot:
2 quarts water
2 Tbs. rice wine
3 Tbs. black bean-garlic sauce
2 Tbs. light soy sauce
2 tsp. salt
Hot bean sauce, to taste (optional)
Arrange the chicken, beef and shrimp on a serving platter.
Drain the mushrooms and remove and discard the stems. Squeeze out the excess water and arrange on a platter with the cabbage, noodles and
bean sprouts.
Place the chili oil and Sichuan pepper in small dipping bowls.
To prepare the hot pot, in a large fondue pot over high heat, bring the water to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the rice wine, black bean-garlic sauce, soy sauce, salt and hot bean sauce.
Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, skimming off any froth that accumulates on the surface.
Instruct guests to skewer their own selection of meats and shrimp, 1 or 2 pieces at a time, into the food baskets, then cook in the hot stock.
Guests may want to dip the cooked food in the chili oil or Sichuan pepper before eating.
When all the meat and shrimp have been cooked and eaten, add the mushrooms, cabbage, noodles and bean sprouts to the stock and heat through.
Ladle into bowls and eat as a soup.
A classic dessert, vanilla crème brûlée should be experienced in its purest form before embellishing it with additional ingredients. You might try steeping
lemon or orange peel with the vanilla bean, or adding a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom. Either way, this simple recipe will produce a smooth,
velvety custard with a delicate caramel topping.
Ingredients:
1/2 vanilla bean
2 cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup plus 4 Tbs. sugar
Steps:
Position a rack in the center of an oven and preheat to 300°F.
Have a pot of boiling water ready. Line a shallow baking pan with a small kitchen towel.
Using a paring knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise down the middle and scrape the seeds into a 2-quart saucepan.
Add the cream, stir to mix and set the pan over medium-low heat.
Warm the cream until bubbles form around the edges of the pan and steam begins to rise from the surface.
Remove from the heat and set aside to steep, about 15 minutes.
A fortified wine that originated in Spain, sherry is produced in a variety of styles. Fino and manzanilla are dry, pale and crisp and are served chilled.
Amontillado is a lightly sweet, caramel-colored sherry, while oloroso, or cream sherry, is darker in color and sweeter in taste; it is traditionally served
at room temperature. Many of the firms in the sherry and port trade are British, so both these spirits are classic ingredients in English dishes,
including trifle—sponge cake soaked in sherry and topped with fruit and custard sauce.
Ingredients:
1 cup dried tart cherries
3 Bartlett pears
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cups raspberry jam
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 sponge cake or 1 9-by-5-inch bakery pound cake
1 cup sherry (preferably amontillado or oloroso), Madeira or sweet Marsala
2 recipes crème anglaise
For the whipped cream:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 Tbs. confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Put the dried cherries in a small bowl and add boiling water to cover. Let stand for at least 30 minutes to plump the cherries. Drain.
Reserve about 2 Tbs. of the cherries for garnish.
Peel the pears, halve lengthwise, core and cut the pears crosswise into thin slices. Put them in a bowl, add the lemon juice and toss to coat.
In a small bowl, combine the jam with the warm water and stir. Reserve about 2 Tbs. of the almonds for garnish.
Cut the sponge cake into slices 1/2 inch thick.
In a 2 1/2-quart trifle dish or deep glass bowl, make a layer of one-third of the cake slices, cutting and fitting them together as necessary.
Sprinkle the cake layer with one-third of the sherry.
Dollop one-third of the jam mixture over the cake.
Sprinkle the jam with one-third each of the pears, cherries and almonds, in that order.
Pour 1 1⁄3 cups of the crème anglaise over the top.
Repeat to make 2 more layers.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the trifle for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
About 30 minutes before serving, make the whipped cream:
In a deep bowl, using a balloon whisk, beat the cream, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.
Spoon the cream over the top of the trifle. Garnish with the reserved cherries and almonds.
Let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
To serve, scoop out large spoonfuls, going down to the bottom layer.
Crème Anglaise
French in origin, crème anglaise is a vanilla-flavored custard sauce that is served over cake, fruit or other desserts.
It can also be used to create an English trifle.
Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Rinse the inside of a nonaluminum saucepan with water and shake out the excess water.
Pour in the milk, place over medium-low heat and cook until small bubbles form around the edges of the pan, about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolk and sugar and whisk just until blended.
Gradually whisk in half of the hot milk, then pour the egg mixture into the pan.
Set over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and leaves a clear trail when a finger is drawn
through it, 6 to 8 minutes. Do not allow it to boil.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Stir in the vanilla.
Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and let cool.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days. Makes about 2 cups.