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‘Cookies’ Category

  1. Short pastry with salted butter and orange zest: one, no one and one hundred thousand

    March 5, 2013 by Giulietta

    Frolla al burro salato e arancia

     

    Since I completed my professional pastry class  in December, I made a lot of short pastry, mostly because I love it, but also because I think it’s an incredibly versatile recipe, something that you can easily transform in 1001 different ways, one better than the the one before.

    So, having some salted butter I bought some time ago, I decided to make a slightly salted short pastry (using some salted butter, together with unsalted one) orange-scented. I took the cue from Sara, but I used my shortpastry recipe.

    One of the great things about short pastry is that you can make a lot of delicacies with the same dough (and a quite simple one, I’d say. So, with a single dough, I propose three different recipes.

    But, first thing first, I’ll start with my basic recipe for short pastry cookies,or shortbread.

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    Category Citrus, Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Egg yolks only, Fresh fruit | Tags: ,,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

  2. Christmas Eve’s amaretti

    December 24, 2012 by Giulietta

    For this Christmas Eve, a day usually spent getting ready for Christmas dinner or making/wrapping the last Christmas gifts, I propose you a quick and easy recipe that can be a beautiful dessert to be served with the Christmas coffee or a small last-minute gift: you’ll need just a box and red paper to create something very Christmassy and very appreciated.

    It’s my way to give you all a little gift and to wish you a sweet and peaceful Christmas, surrounded by your loved ones.

    Have a nice Christmas Eve and, of course, a great Christmas Eve’s dinner.

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    Category Christmas is near - home-made gifts, Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Dried fruit, Egg whites only, Nuts | Tags: ,,,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

  3. Not only butter, pt. 2 – Lady’s little kisses, kisses and big kisses (Baci di dama)

    April 17, 2012 by Giulietta

    Here it is, my traditional buttery recipe… it's not a family tradition, but about a regional one, aka little treats made with hazelnut (a classic ​in Piedmontese cuisine). There's also an almond version, but in this case I vote for hazelnut.

    And, in line with the spirit of Burro Occelli's contest on the Burro Occelli and in line with Piedmontese spirit, I chose a very buttery traditional recipe (I live in a Northern region, and this means butter).

    I'm talking about (but maybe you've already recognised them in the picture) baci di dama (lady's kisses in Italian), a traditional and very easy recipe, since the ingredients are in a 1:1 proportion and since you can prepare the dough using a food processor.

    The hardest part is to resist these stuffed cookies, in which the buttery aroma goes perfectly with the toasted flavour of hazelnuts and dark chocolate.

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    Category Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Dried fruit, Pastries, Piedmont, Regional Italian cooking | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | 14 Comments

  4. Give me the strenght! Motivational olive oil cookies

    March 17, 2012 by Giulietta

     

    For some time now, my days literally run away, in a vortex of commitments that I can hardly count: there's work, of course, but then there's the photography class, the Arabic cuisine class, tutoring, and then there's my private life, going out with friends, phone calls, e-mail and SMS. Then there's the blog, and I don't have to tell you how my presence here decreased a lot: now I have a weekly "appointment" with you, but its importance for me stays always the same.

    And yet I feel like I'm forgetting something that contributes to fill my days … ah, yes, then there are my dreams, the ones that make me sigh as a hero of some Nineteenth century novel thinking about Paris in spring, the ones that had me convinced that I have to join a singing or a professional cooking class… these dreams (and many others, but I won't make a list) are some sort of a background, and they're ready to creep into my thoughts while I wait for a green light or while I'm in line to pay in a supermarket. And they make ​​me realize that, despite my current frenzy, but I could call it chaos (and I don't know if it actually gives birth to a dancing star, like Nietzsche said), I still have so much to do, places to see and people worth knowing. We must "only" channel our forces better, chasing the right dreams, big or small ones.

    But when your forces aren't enough, when we would like a word of comfort and there is no one who can give us that, no one who can give us his/her shoulder to lean on?

    Well, there are motivational cookies, then. These cookies can say everything we would love to hear … a simple "Good morning" (Buongiorno) when you wake up alone in the morning and you would like someone at your side, a "Come on" ("Daje", in roman dialect) to give yourself a shake (a everything that I love hate Roman), an "alegher" (something Piedmontese that means "stay happy") to remember yourself that everything will be okay, a "hold on" (Resisti) for the darkest moments.

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    Category Breakfast, Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Egg yolks only, Extra-virgin olive oil, Thoughts and words | Tags: ,,,,,, | 18 Comments

  5. Christmas Eve’s gingerbread men

    December 24, 2011 by Giulietta

    Here we are, today is the beloved or dreaded Christmas Eve, a day about preparations: clean up house, cooking (I have to make coniglio al civet -a rabbit stew- and bread for tomorrow's lunch), wrap the last gifts and, in my case, pack the edible gifts (so that they don't lose their fragrance, hopefully). I know that I skimped on: I didn't write about a lot of recipes for home-made gifts, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise to my closest friends.

    But today I can at least reveal the first secret of Fatima, about my sweet and cute Gingerbread men, that remind me of the one from the movie Shrek. Of course, this isn't an Italian sweet, but I like these spicy cookies so much, and I find that they smell like winter, like homely warmth, like Christmas. Also, once you've decorated them (although I did a very simple decoration) with glaze, they'll become very cute and nice: they can almost talk!

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    Category Breakfast, Christmas, Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Glaze, Holidays, Home-made is better, North Europe cuisine, Spices | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,, | 9 Comments

  6. Breakfast or gift? Wine doughnut cookies

    December 10, 2011 by Giulietta

    While you're reading this post, I will be in Rome for a book exhibition, an "excuse" to finally see again many friends who come from all over Italy. Take a school trip, add a food and wine tour, add a package tour with thousand forced stops, add a shopaholic meeting and you still can't fully grasp the spirit of this reunion. And then I'll take some food tour (I have to), and I'll finally meet some fellow food bloggers live, but I'll tell you everything when I'll come back.

    But, since "we're not here to comb the dolls" (a roman saying that means "we're not here to bake cookies"… even if we're here to bake cookies), in this post I try to satisfy with a single recipe those who are looking for simple and light breakfast cookies and those who are looking for a gourmet cookie gift for Christmas (and you can give them even to your lactose intolerant friends. Home-made really is better), perhaps along with a nice bottle of passito wine. I guarantee you, these cookies are fantastic dunked in milk and in wine … a miracle!

    It's not a miracle, it's a Juls' (from Juls' Kitchen) recipe!

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    Category Breakfast, Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Home-made is better, Wine | Tags: ,,,,,,, | 18 Comments

  7. Meliga pastries – the revenge

    October 16, 2011 by Giulietta

    When Katherine asked me to write a guest post for her beautiful blog, while she is on vacation, I wondered what recipe I could write about, since I wanted to share an Italian dish at all costs or, even better, a recipe typical of my Region, Piedmont. So, after all this thinking and after a lot of exclusions (but you'll find these dishes on my blog, anyway), I found out that the perfect recipe was already in my mind all along, waiting for the right trigger … and so, here I am with my meliga pastries.

    So, if you want to read about my first experiment, my misadventures and my memories about these amazing cookies, come and read my post here, and take a look at Katherine blog… it definitely worths a visit!

    Here you can find only the recipe

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    Category Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Piedmont, Regional Italian cooking | Tags: ,,,,,, | 23 Comments

  8. It’s always the right time for tea… and some meliga pastries

    May 30, 2011 by Giulietta

    If you have never tasted meliga pastries, you don't know what you have missed!

    Meliga pastries, in fact, are the best cookies in the universe (IMHO) … they have Piedmontese origins (they are particularly typical in the area of Mondovi, but they are also produced in other parts of the region) and the key ingredient of these cookies is the meliga or melia, ie, in Piedmontese dialect, corn. In fact they are largely composed  of corn flour, ground more than the corn flour used to prepare polenta.

    These cookies are similar in their composition to simple shortbread, but I think they have the proverbial extra gear, 'cause of this yellow flour, which makes these pastries crunchier and with a very particular taste… you have to try them.

    They are perfect for tea time, 'cause their taste is so simple but yet different from usual cookies, 'cause they are crunchy, also when soaked, simply because they are divine. The combination of meliga pastries and a good hot tea (but the tradition suggests to serve them with wine, sweet or not, or with eggnog – but maybe is best to avoid eggnog in this hot season) is so good that I always hope in the arrival of tea time, even if it's only about 8 AM.

    So, when I found, during a trip to the Piedmontese Langhe, a package of otto file (aka eight rows) corn flour (this is an old Piedmontese type of corn, forgotten in the past, but now increasingly rediscovered by growers) finely stone-ground (perfect for my beloved pastries), I just couldn't resist, and now I'm here to describe the perfect tea time.

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    Category Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Egg yolks only, Piedmont, Regional Italian cooking | Tags: ,,,,,, | 17 Comments

  9. World’s most dangerous cookies: peanut butter and chocolate chips cookies

    May 17, 2011 by Giulietta

    I strongly believe that this is the world's most dangerous cookie, 'cause if you like peanut butter you couldn't manage to break away from these delicacies so easily and, considering their intake of butter (milk one and peanut one), they can't be considered light cookies, suitable for a diet … but who cares?!

    My premise was, in fact, if you like peanut butter, 'cause I know that this ingredient is not appreciated by all palates, especially Italian ones.

    Until a few years ago I saw peanut butter only in American movies or TV series, and often I asked myself "but Americans put it everywhere?!" (I am referring especially to the frequent images of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches). But, being an ingredient so hard to find in Italy, I had given up the understanding, and I had to put aside my skepticism and my curiosity.

    Then, during the summer holidays of 2007, spent among the green hills of Umbria and Lake Trasimeno, areas with a high rate of tourists from Germany, England and other northern European countries, we found in a supermarket the famous and feared peanut butter, produced by a company well known in Italy for sauces and condiments, the "Calvè". Could we possibly back down from this challenge?! Never! So, moved by the immense love for peanuts and a great curiosity, we bought the mysterious jar and we got ready to tasting …

    Needless to say, if today I propose you a recipe using this ingredient, which has nothing to do with Italy (even if someone told me me that there is a production Made ​​in Italy, in Catania), peanut butter conquered me … certainly I couldn't enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I'm loyal to bread, butter -milk one- and jam, bread, butter and sugar that reminds me of my childhood, or a fresh and healthy bread and tomatoes), but I admit that occasionally I like to eat  some peanut butter, even only on a teaspoon! And, now that Italy peanut butter is much easier to find (you can find it in any well-stocked supermarket or hyper market), it arrives into my pantry easily.


     

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    Category Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Dried fruit | Tags: ,,,,,,, | 20 Comments

  10. Either Italy or Spain, as long as we can eat

    April 13, 2011 by Giulietta

    To paraphrase the well-known Italian motto "Either France or Spain, as long as we can eat", today I present to you the happy marriage of a Spanish recipe with an Italian one.

    The two recipes do not come together, but I just tried the combination and the result was quite convincing, so I present it to you! Of course you are perfectly free to prepare and eat these desserts (yes, today we talk about desserts, two of them!) separately, but at least you'll know that eating them together it's not going to hurt you … Indeed, quite the opposite!

    In addition, these two desserts are very easy to prepare (these recipes could be useful on many occasions) and, more interesting, they are perfectly complementary, since one uses only egg whites and the other uses only egg yolks… then, as for the pork, we don't throw anything away (I already showed you here that you shouldn't throw anything away, even egg whites)!

    I have at least intrigued you a little?! So come and find out what sweets I'm talking about!

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    Category Cookies, Dessert and Sweets, Egg whites only, Egg yolks only, Pudding, Spanish cuisine | Tags: ,,,,,, | 14 Comments

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