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Posts Tagged ‘holidays’

  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.

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    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.

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    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.

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

  4. Finishing 2012/starting 2013 with a bang: gastronomic panettone

    January 10, 2013 by Giulietta

    I published this recipe on my Italian blog on New Year’s Eve: in fact, this was my contribution to a New Year’s Eve dinner with friend.

    A few days before the 31st I decided that I wanted to end 2012 with a bang, astonishing my dining companions, and so I made my attempt with a gastronomic panettone (a semi-savoury panettone, stuffed with anything you can think of).

    Of course, my panettone wasn’t perfect (it resembled an alien -at least an alien in the ’80 filmography’s stereotype), but for me it was simply beautiful.

    The recipe came from Adriano of Profumo di Lievito, a real expert on leavened preparations. As for the filling, you can find my choices in the recipe’s notes, but you can use everything you like.

    This panettone is my little gift for you, and with it I wish you all a GREAT 2013!

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    Category Appetizer and Finger food, Holidays, Leavened, New Year's Eve, Party, Senza categoria | Tags: ,,,, | 6 Comments

  5. 12 recipes for a happy new year

    December 29, 2012 by Giulietta

    As a wish for a happy new year I prepared for you a report of this year in recipes: this 2012 brought me great changes, it was a year marked by my appearance and disappearance from the blog (but I have never abandoned you, and this should count for something, uh?) and it definitely was (and you’ll see it very soon) a very sweet year, and not just from the culinary point of view.

    With these 12 recipes, one for each month of 2012, I wish a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

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    Category Holidays, New Year's Eve, Thoughts and words | Tags: ,,, | 6 Comments

  6. A festive dessert – Pistachio mille-feuille

    December 3, 2012 by Giulietta

    Did I ever tell you that I have a passion for pistachios? No?! Well, now you know it: I am a pistachio-addicted! I can’t say no to a couple (a couple?! Who believes that?) pistachio nuts, at any time and situation, I believe that “if a dessert has pistachio in it must be good” (and not just desserts… I’m not a racist!), I strongly believe that “Sicily is the promise land”.

    So when last summer I went to Calabria, even without setting foot in my promise land (I admit it, I haven’t been in Sicily, yet), I found out that pistachio flour was very easy to find. Could I ever come back home empty-handed? I definitely couldn’t, so, while a part of that treasure still lies in my wardrobe/pantry (yes, sometimes I keep food and clothing together), a part has already gone away, but it was for a good cause.

    Our heroine, in fact, sacrificed itself on a special occasion, the birthday of two people who are very important to me and who, like me, love pistachios. So I chose to prepare as a birthday cake a mille-feuille with hand-made puff pastry, pistachio custard and then garnished with a sprinkling of pistachios and a chocolaty writing (as I said, there were two party boys: no one turned 2728).

    To accompany the dessert I could choose to stay in Sicily, with a Pantelleria passito (did I ever mention my passion for passito wines?! Well, I still have many secrets), but then I decided to serve it with a Piedmontese passito, the Sulé Caluso Passito doc produced by Orsolani. This wine, sweet and fruity, would marry even better with pastries, but I think that pistachios created the right conditions for a perfect wedding, even if this dessert is made with custard and whipped cream. And, maybe it’s my love for the Sicilian land, but I’m always in favour of a marriage between Sicilian food and a Piedmontese wine, as I already shown in the past.

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    Category Birthday, Dessert and Sweets, Dried fruit, French cuisine, Holidays, Home-made is better | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,, | 5 Comments

  7. Sciué sciué – friselle with cherry tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella

    July 28, 2012 by Giulietta

    Live from Calabria (haven’t I said that I’d write from somewhere else, this time?), in a seaside-holiday mode, I leave you a sciué sciué (it means “quick quick” in Naples) post, sciué sciué as the dish that I made, with a few (but good) ingredients, without cooking, without special equipment (just a dish, a bowl and a knife), but with a great taste.

    Furthermore, this simple dish reminds me of distant echoes of that bread and tomatoes that my grandmother made for me and my cousin as a snack, that we ate in the hammock in the shade of a thorn bush; but, even more, it reminds me of the hundreds of summer lunches that my father and I had with friselle, when the weather was so hot to get close to the stove. Maybe it’s because bread (or frisella), tomatoes, salt, oil and oregano (now I added something a little more sophisticated) it’s a mix both simple and perfect, maybe it’s because of this tender and fuzzy childhood memories or maybe it’s because the memories that from now on I’ll tie to this dish, but frisella for me is and will stay a summer must I’ll hardly give up … and why should I?!

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    Category Appetizer and Finger food, Breads and pizzas, Cheese, Cold dishes, Cooking for dummies, Extra-virgin olive oil, Herbs, Holidays, Regional Italian cooking, Southern Italy, Vegetables | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,, | 6 Comments

  8. Happy birthday to me – Meringue pie in a cup (sort of)

    July 9, 2012 by Giulietta

     

    A very quick post, with a very clear intention: wish a HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY to me (I wish it to myself, 'cause you never know)! Oh, yes, I fall into the birthday's post cliche, too, but I won't keep going (at myself, of course) stating my desperation for the advancing age (but the age advances, though) or describing everything that I prepared for the celebrations in my honour. Well, actually I didn't prepare anything, there was no special celebration, I refused to cook, at least on my birthday (what the heck!).

    But, for my non-birthday (aka birthday celebrated in advance), I prepared this meringue pie in the cup (sort of), which had some success .. why did I prepare meringue pie for my non-birthday, when I don't go crazy for meringue? This remains a mystery to solve. But that's another story, which I think has something to do with mental tares I mentioned in my previous post … look on the bright side, at least I didn't turn on the oven!

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    Category Birthday, Dessert and Sweets, Egg yolks only, Holidays, Ice cream semifreddo and sorbet | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | 10 Comments

  9. Fly, white dove, fly: Easter Colomba (dove) with brewer’s yeast

    April 5, 2012 by Giulietta

    A year of great success with leavened dough. And, if Christmas in Italy means Panettone, Easter means Colomba (Italian for dove).
    At this point I could talk you about the Christian meaning of the dove, I could talk about peace and olive branches .. but let's be honest, these things are not for me, since my religiosity and my closeness to the Christian religion in particular are very thin. Therefore, I face Easter like any other holiday, in a very secular and festive way, the one that rejoice over a few days home from work, some relax, some movies to see, some hours to spend with friends, some time available for cooking and baking.

    So, when I hear the word "dove" I don't think about a symbol of Christianity (I hope nobody feels offended by my spirit, or lack of spirit, depending on your point of view), but I think about this old Italian song (despite this reference to the 50s, I swear that I am not 80 years old … and anyway, if I was 80, I would be a hell of an eighty-year-old) and I think about this Italian Easter dessert.

    Therefore, because of the same secular and festive spirit above, for me celebrate Easter was about taking a weekend off, shopping and then locking myself in the kitchen with a good friend to prepare the Colomba, between a laugh, a look at some cookbook, a chat and a few other trials (between risings we made some delicious pitas, but I'll talk about them some other time), even managing to carve out some time for a beer in the evening. And, unlike the making of Panettone, we didn't even cursed so much .. perhaps, somehow, the Easter spirit manifested itself, for sure in the miracle of this dove, which is simply amazing.

    I am posting the recipe today (instead of my usual post on Saturday), so you're gonna make it for Easter Sunday, if you want to try it.

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    Category Dessert and Sweets, Easter, Holidays, Leavened | Tags: ,,,,,, | 10 Comments

  10. Happy birthday, blog!

    February 22, 2012 by Giulietta

    Here we are … Alterkitchen, a year later.

    Exactly one year ago I wrote my first posts, my because and my first recipe. It's amazing, when I look back at this year, how many things have changed in my life and how much I have changed … maybe changed is not the right word, but I certainly came back to be someone that I left dormant for too long.

    So many things changed, in my business life and even more in my personal life… some people got out of my life, some others entered it on tiptoe, others knocking down the door, and then there are some people who have always been there, and that perhaps will always be (and it's what I sincerely hope).

    Between all these changes and this weird and unlucky 2011, I realized that constants (but not too many of them, otherwise things get boring) are important .. and this blog was, despite my breaks and my syncopated or loose rhythms, an important constant. It was something to cultivate, to let grow, to follow and to love, something that brought me small and great satisfactions, warmth, laughter, sharing and new friends … and I think that friendships born around a real or a virtual table are going to last much more than what we eat together, with the mouth or with the eyes.

    I close this panegyric (a bit too mushy) with a THANKS, for your attentions, your comments and your mere presence, a THANKS to all of you who read my posts and to those who are reading me now, and I hope you'll continue to do so.

    To thank you I thought I could make you gift … from a word and paper (printed or not) fetish, I chose to give away to one of you a Moleskine recipe journal and a book (I already chose it, and I hope that will please the one who will receive it).

    After the recipe you'll find all the information about taking part to my little giveaway .. and now, to celebrate, what would you say about a piece of tiramisù?!

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    Category Birthday, Dessert and Sweets, Giveaway, Holidays, Thoughts and words | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | 28 Comments

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