domenica 21 febbraio 2010

Pollo Glassato



Yeld: 4 people
  • 1/2 kg chicken chops
  • flour
  • 2 garlic's cloves
  • some sage leaves
  • 150 g black olives 
  • butter and extra virgin olive oil
  • stock cube's broth
  • white dry wine
  • salt & pepper
Flour every single chicken chop; mince black olives, wash sage's leaves and peel garlic's cloves.
Melt two spoons of butter in a capacious saucepan, add two spoon of olive oil and the garlic's cloves.
Fry lightly it for few minutes, add the chicken chops and brown them.
Remove the garlic, add some salt and pepper, pour some broth in order to reduce and simmer it.
Add the minced olives and the sage leaves, cover the saucepan with a lid and cook it for 40 minutes.
When the chicken looks perfectly cooked, remove it from the saucepan and put it in another saucepan-make sure to keep it warm!
Now, helping yourself with a spoon, remove the crusts on the saucepan's wall, pour 1/2 glass of white wine and let it reduce, until it becomes thick.
Dip chicken chops in the sauce, and frost them completely. Serve warm, maybe with some slices of toasted bread.


venerdì 19 febbraio 2010

Sudden weather changes, beautiful pink flamingos and sunset!

Just the other day it was slightly snowing - last time it snowed in Sardinia it was 1993!
Unfortunately it melted as soon as it touched the ground :(

 

I was lucky enough to manage to take some photos before snow could melt!

 

Not much, but it made my daughters happy, as it never snows here- they went out in the garden without a jacket on, and it was freezy cold! They're crazy!


 

Hope you can see some small snow flakes!


And look at what I was able to photograph, today!


 

 A beautiful day, isn't it?This is the "Stagno di Molentargius" ( a pond), a natural preserve..in fact it hosts...

Beautiful...
Pink...
  
Flamingos!
They migrate from Africa to the closest warm place, which is Sardinia..sometimes there are really so many, they look wonderful!I hope they will never go away from here, because that would be a bad sign!

I keep this post short, and leave you with the picture of a wonderful sunset..Seems that Spring's already here!



giovedì 18 febbraio 2010

Two lovely awards from Geri! Thank you Geri!

Goodmorning dear readers,
Today I want to share two wonderful awards I received from Geri@heart n soul cooking! Her blog is wonderful...and I think I have already said this, but you have to visit it!Wonderful recipes and besides being a wonderful cook, she's a great sweet friend!

The rules of these two awards are simplier than usual..You don't have to mention the famous " 10 things" but only to mention who gave you the award, leave a comment on the winners' blog, and....spread the LOVE!
                                                                          LOVE!

The 10 lovely friends who won the award - (I didn't select the tag&award free bloggers, but the award is also for them, meaning I love them too, of course!!!)

Felted house@Felted house

 

  

Love,


martedì 16 febbraio 2010

A wonderful heart pan from Karen!

Look at what I have received today...this wonderful heart shaped pan!!!And it's from Karen!!!Her blog is wonderful, and I highly recommend you to visit it, if you want to find great recipes and tips for cooking!
Thank you Karen, I will be soon making a chocolate heart shaped cake :)

Now enjoy this wonderful pan, and have a great day!
Thank you so much Karen, for this chance to win this wonderful must have!






lunedì 15 febbraio 2010

Torcetti piemontesi

Hi everyone, 
today I want to show you these simple desserts, called "torcetti piemontesi"..They're a typical dessert of Piedmont, northern Italy's region.





Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

250 g flour
90 g butter
5 gr brewer's yeast
sugar 
salt

How to make it:

Melt the yeast in some warm water; Pour flour in a bowl and add a pinch of salt, pour the melted yeast and start kneading. Mix it well, and shape the dough into a ball, it must be soft and swollen. Cover it with a cloth and leave it to rise for at least 1 hour.
Now, put the dough on a work surface and add the butter- make sure it's soft-. Once you've mixed the butter well with the dough, leave it to rise for 30 minutes more.
Then, from the dough cut some bits..They should be 10 cm long and 1 cm thick (more or less). Roll them in caster or powdered sugar, and fold them, like you see on the photo. Place them on a baking tin (remember to put a sheet of greaseproof paper and bake them at 170°C, for about15 minutes. Enjoy!

 


domenica 14 febbraio 2010

♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥ and Valentine's Tablescape ♥

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!! ♥
Today I want to share with you the Valentine's tablescape and something I cooked for this special lovely day..Hope you like it! For the tablescape I used Moogie's giveaway gifts I won :) They're lovely!!!

The heart shaped bread is prepared with milk and butter and the cake is a Victoria chocolate sponge cake with a double cream and chocolate filling.
Enjoy your Valentine's Day with people you love! ♥



 

  

  

  




Annalisa

mercoledì 10 febbraio 2010

Zeppole- Is Zippuasa




A zeppola is a pastry typical of peninsular italian cuisine. Every region of southern Italy has its own way to make zeppole; in Sardinia zeppole are called (is) zippuasa and are usually eaten during Carnival days. Sardinian zeppole come in the shape of doughnuts, and are extremely puffy and light...The first thing you notice about Zippuasa is their wonderful flavour and the way they smell...heavenly!
But now, the recipe! I warn you, it's a little bit long...and it's not too easy, but with some practice, you will manage to have perfect Zeppole :) This is one of the easiest recipes I have found!

Ingredients:
  • 1 kg flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 lt milk
  • 1 bag of saffron
  • 50 g brewer's yeast
  • 2 oranges
  • 1/2 glass of brandy
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 potato
How to make it:

Boil the potato, peel it and mash it in a bowl and add the flour. Warm milk and pour it in the bowl, and mix it with the mashed potato and the flour. Add lemon and oranges' zests, and also oranges juice. Keep mixing and start kneading the mixture until you get a soft and thick dough.
Put the dough on the table or a large work surface and energetically knead it, gradually adding the eggs one per time. Knead the dough for about one hour. Then place it again in the bowl. Melt yeast in a cup with some warm milk and add it to the dough along with brandy and saffron. Knead for some more time and then, let it rise. When the dough looks twice bigger than it was, you know that it's ready. 
Once it's ready, dip your hands in milk and take small bits off of the dough, shape them into rings and fry them in deep oil. Roll them in caster or powdered sugar. Serve them warm...Enjoy!


domenica 7 febbraio 2010

Cullurielli from Calabria!

 

Cullurielli


  


Hi dear readers, today I want to share with you these wonderful salty fritters. I ate these for the first time 26 years ago, with my husband -he was my boyfriend then!- at a friend's house.. My friend's mum was from Calabria, southern Italy..and that is the region of Italy where these wonderful fritters come from!
I just couldn't remember the name after such a long time, but with my daughter, we managed to look for the name over the web, and when I saw the pics, yeah! it was that ..So I began to make them again (this is already the second year). The original recipe counts the use of an anchovy inside..but I keep it simple,don't put anchovies..you can put it anyway! The best type of potato for these fritters is surely the "Red potato of Sila" but I can't find them here, so any other kind of potato should be good!

But now, I will give you the recipe - you can half the ingredients, but remember, if you half the flour, you have to half the potatoes quantity as well!!

  • 1 kg flour
  • 1 kg potatoes
  • 1 portion of brewer's yeast
  • 1 egg
  • anchovies (optional)
  • salt
  Boil potatoes and whilst they're still hot, helping yourself with a fork, peel them. Pour flour in a bowl and mash potatoes right in the bowl, add salt and the egg. Melt yeast in a cup of warm water, add it to the mixture and start kneading, keep kneading til it's soft.  Shape it into a round, soft and swollen mixture, place it in the bowl, cover it with a cloth and leave it til it becomes at least twice bigger as it was (it will take you at least 2 hours). Then take small amounts from the dough and shape them into small balls, with your fingers make a hole in them, cover the rings with a cloth and let them rise for half an hour.
Warm some oil, and fry them 2 or 3 for time in deep oil. Remember to turn them every now and then to allow cooking on both sides.
Enjoy!!!

giovedì 4 febbraio 2010

♥Chocolate Plum Cake♥

Good morning! ☺
Today I am posting this Chocolate Plum Cake I made, and I sincerely hope you like it! I used to make the classic plum cake, but this time I decided to make it with chocolate and I also added some candied orange...a very good match of flavours!

The decorations on it were a little bit time consuming, because I had to wait for the chocolate to cool...Then with a spatula I have removed it and created these decorations...next time I think I will try to make roses of chocolate, I already tried to make leaves using real roses leaves..bu the result wasn't that good - hard to make such a tiny layer of chocolate and separate it from the leaves!

♥The recipe is pretty easy, here you are! 

Ingredients:

  • 250 g butter
  • 250 g sugar
  • 250 g flour
  • 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 8 g baking powder
  • 0,05 g vanillin
  • 4 eggs
  • 100 g candied orange
  • 50 g raisins
  • 5 cl rum

How to make it:

As usual, soak raisins in the rum for 10-15 minutes and then strained it; Chop butter into small-medium pieces and put it in a bowl with the vanillin and the sugar, whip it all with a whisk, until it gets swollen and foamy. Keep mixing and gradually add eggs, one per time. In a separate bowl, sieve the flour along with the cocoa and the baking powder. Add then raisins and the candied orange, mix it with the flour, cocoa and baking powder and add it to the bowl where you had the first mixture. Pour the mixture in a plum cake mould, level it and bake it in the oven at 180°C for about 45/50 minutes. 
Once it's ready and cool, add chocolate decorations and sprinkle on sugar or add candied oranges on top.

Enjoy!