italian |

Carnevale, Dad's Recipes, Holidays, Merende golose

Chiacchiere di Carnevale – Carnival Fried Pastry

27 Gennaio 2009 Nessun commento

Noone can resist to deep fried chiacchiere, a North Italy carnival tradition. Very easy to make… just follow this definite recipe and … fry real quick!

Carnival fried frites

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (360g)

1/3 cup sugar (40g)

2 eggs

1/2 bag baking soda

lemon rind (organic)

1/3 cup butter (40g)

1/2 cup sweet wine, like marsala, passito or dry moscato

icing sugar

peanut oil (or olive oil) to fry

Directions

In a bowl mix flour, sugar, a bit of salt, melted butter, eggs, wine, baking soda and lemon rind.

Mix well and knead long till you all ingredients are well blended and the dough is soft and smooth.

Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Put oil in a fryng pan and bring to fryng temperature (330F, 170C).

Get a small piece of dough, flatten it with a rolling pin to a very thin foil (very thin!)

Cut into rectangles of 3 x 2 inches. Cut each rectangle in the middle. Fry each rectangle 10 seconds per side. Don’t let them burn.

Put on kitchen paper to dry the oil, spread icing sugar.

Let cool down in a warm, dry room. Good chiacchiere remain fresh and crisp for several days… if they don’t get all eaten before!

Dad's Recipes, Merende golose

Yogurt Chocolate Cake

24 Gennaio 2009 2 commenti

Though this is a simple cake to make, it’s excellent in taste and remains fresh for several days. It’s also lighter than other cakes due to the use of oil and yogurt in place of butter and milk.

Ingredients:

1 cup plain yogurt

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

1/2 cup corn oil

1/2 cup melted butter

1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

3 eggs

1 tablespoon baking powder

Few drops of lemon juice

Directions:

Pre-heat oven at 350F (180C).

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, oil, melted butter, yogurt, cocoa powder and the two yolks.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with a bit of salt and a few drops of lemon juice. Beat until creamy and firm. You may want to add one tablespoon of sugar to make it thinker.

Gently add the whites to the other ingredients, one spoon at a time.

Add the baking powder, mix well and pour in a greased baking pan.

Bake in the over for 40 minutes. Let it cool and then decorate as you like.

Enjoy!

Dad's Recipes, Merende golose

Making pizza at home is always a fun and yummie experience. Making it from scratch, using sourdough starter is a great thing to do when you have spend a rainy weekend at home. You start on Friday night by gently awakening the starter…

Get a small piece of starter from the fridge, the size of a plum (8 oz, 100g). Cut it in pieces, place in a bowl, mix it with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of unbleached, organic wheat flour. It must be fluid. Cover it with a ‘press and seal’ foil. Cover the foil with a fabric sheet. It must remain moist. Let it rest the whole night.

The morning after it will be very bubbly and have a very stingy, sour smell. By that, you can tell you that your starter is still very active.

In another bowl, put 2 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of sea salt. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Mix well.

Slowly add the liquid starter and keep mixing. Knead for 10-15 minutes until very smooth and resilient.

Put it back in the bowl. Cover with a ‘press and seal’ foil and the fabric sheet. Let it rest and raise for 4/6 hours.

Once well raised, remove it from the bowl, knead it and cut in small bowls of 1/2 lb (225 g) each. The balls will have to rest and raise again for about 1 hour. Make sure you cover them with a plastic foil and a fabric sheet (better if humid).

By Saturday evening you should be able to make, bake and eat your pizza!

Turn on the oven at the max temperature (450F, 230C). If you have it, place the oven stone in it. It will help to cook your pizza to perfection.

Flatten a dough ball with your hands. Distribute tomato sauce and mozzarella crumbs on it. Put it on a oven foil (it will help to place it in the oven).

Place it in the ovenand let it cook until the crust gets slightly burned and the mozzarella is perfectly melted.

Remove from the oven, place it on a wooden plate and spread dried origano on it.

Enjoy!

Chiacchiere di Carnevale – Carnival Fried Pastry

Yogurt Chocolate Cake

Sourdough Italian Pizza