RSS Feed

‘Christmas’ Category

  1. Once on shore we pray no more, pt. 3 – Stuffed capon

    February 7, 2013 by Giulietta

    This recipe marks the end of my “once on shore we pray no more” serie, born to remember Christmas holidays, which now are just a distant memory.

    Between the recipes I proposed starring Mr. Capon (with capital C), perhaps this one is the most holiday-related … sure, tortellini are no joke, but I think that you could eat tortellini any day of the year, while stuffed capon immediately recalls Christmas holiday. Stuffed capon is a sort of culinary party:  how else you can call, in fact, a fat and tasty, when you stuff it with other delicious things?! It’s a party, there is no other definition.

    For my stuffed capon I drew inspiration from this Piedmontese recipe, making some changes here and there.

    (more…)

    Category Capon, Christmas, Holidays, Meat, Piedmont, Regional Italian cooking, Second course | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

  2. Once on shore we pray no more pt. 2 – Capon salad Sicily-scented

    January 25, 2013 by Giulietta

    As promised, here I am with the second recipe to remember the Christmas holidays. The protagonist is Mr. Capon (again), this time in flesh and blood, not as a stock.

    This recipe, in fact, is born to reuse the capon’s boiled meat once you made the stock for your tortellini.

    I immediately thought of a salad, light and perfect as an appetizer or a delicious second course, and also immediately I decided to make it Sicily-scented, by adding oranges (slices and juice) and almonds.

    Recipe doesn’t have doses: it goes to the taste.

    (more…)

    Category Appetizer and Finger food, Capon, Christmas, Citrus, Dried fruit, Fresh fruit, Holidays, Meat, Nuts, Second course | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,, | 2 Comments

  3. Once on shore we pray no more pt. 1 – Tortellini in a capon broth

    January 19, 2013 by Giulietta

    In Italy, especially in Southern Italy, there is a famous saying, which reads “passata la festa, gabbatu lu santu” (something like “once the holiday is gone, the saint is duped“, more or less the same meaning as “once on shore we pray no more“) … in a nutshell, when somebody obtains something he/she really wanted, he/she often forget very quickly the thing he/she obtained.

    So, quickly after Christmas holidays, it’s easy to forget the relax and the sumptuous lunches we had at Christmas.

    But I say NO to this bad habit to forget too quickly, so I’m publishing now three recipes to remember Christmas when it’s already gone (sooooo gone). Two of these recipes are very traditional one, while one is a “leftovers” one, but all have something in common, Mr. Capon (which has already suffered castration in life, and deserves a little celebration, uh?!).

    The first of these recipes, a very traditional one (and very festive), typical of Emilia region (but there’s a “war” between Modena and Bologna about their origin), tortellini in a capon broth. Needless to say, this is not a family recipe.. well, not my family, at least. I “stole” Sara’s family recipe (Sara aka Fiordifrolla), and I slightly modified it.

    (more…)

    Category Christmas, Earth first course, Emilia, First course, Fresh pasta, Holidays, Home-made is better, Pasta, Regional Italian cooking, Soup | Tags: ,,,,,,,,, | 9 Comments

  4. Panettone… and Merry Christmas

    December 25, 2011 by Giulietta

    What can I say about Panettone, except that it's the Italian Christmas dessert par excellence (for me Panettone is way way better than Pandoro)?! That I think that the scent could revive dead persons? That its softness could melt even the most hard-hearted?

    No, I prefer to say that this year I wanted to allow myself this experiment, repeated twice: the first time I failed (a wrong and too long rising, which led to a very good Panettone, but drier than it should be),  while the second Panettone was phenomenal, also thanks to Morena from Menta e Cioccolato, this recipe's mom and the one who suggested me not to give up and who gave me some successful tips.

    With this Panettone (which will cut itself by magic in exact the number of slices needed for all of you) I wish you to spend a happy and peaceful Christmas, reveling surrounded by your loved ones (I have to wish you something food-related). And I wish you that this Christmas will bring you everything that you want.

    And, last but not least, I want to thank you all for your patience in reading my rigmarole, for the affection, attention and support I feel in your every comment and every e-mail. Thank you all and, sincerely, Merry Christmas.

    … don't worry, now I leave you the recipe!
     

    (more…)

    Category Christmas, Dessert and Sweets, Holidays, Home-made is better, Leavened, Lombardy, Regional Italian cooking | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | 33 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!

    (more…)

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

  6. How to recycle Christmas (before it arrives): nougat semifreddo

    December 14, 2011 by Giulietta

    It is mid-December, already … The most prepared of you have already finished their Christmas presents and will be satisfied, some others will have to think, buy and wrap up gifts (and how come the fundamental gifts are always the last to be crossed off the list?!) and then some other will wait till Christmas Eve to buy the first thing that comes to mind. Well, I usually fall within the first category, 'cause I usually start thinking about Christmas gifts while I'm still wearing flip-flops, and I usually buy every single gift with a disturbing advance .. but this year Christmas will be a little different for me, and this Christmas will include a lot of home-made gifts and a little more calmness .. and it will probably become panic when I'll realize that I forgot the gift for grandma 10 minutes before Christmas dinner.

    But I can't, at least in part, give up my proverbial timing and, although I know that Christmas is yet to come, I'm so ahead of you that today I don't suggest you some home-made and last-minute gift, but a recipe to get rid of nougat leftovers. Today I'm the Grinch, who fights the thought of Christmas, almost as if it was already gone!

    Torrone (nougat) is a very popular sweet in Italy, and we eat it especially during Christmas holidays. There are at least a thousand different kinds of torrone: hard, soft, semi-hard, with hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, covered in chocolate, covered in glaze, big, small and so on..
    Well, the funny thing is… I don't like nougat! My mom could practically eat a ton of it (so it's not genetic), and instead I don't like it so much, basically 'cause it's too sweet for my tooth.
    But, after Christmas holidays, it's practically impossible living in an Italian house without seeing nougat all around, since it's a very common gift and it's also very used in Christmas goodie baskets.
    So, if you want to use some of those leftovers or if you actually love nougat and you'd like to make a very Christmas sweet, very easy and very sensational, here it is my semifreddo al torrone (nougat semifreddo).

    Today you can find my recipe also here, on Nami's fabulous blog Just One Cookbook (I'm a blogsitter, today), together with a little interview with the undersigned. If you're interested or if you don't know Nami's blog, yet, please pay a visit, and you won't regret it.

    (more…)

    Category Chocolate, Christmas, Dessert and Sweets, Holidays, Ice cream semifreddo and sorbet | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | 30 Comments