I hate you I love you

Christmas baking... I rarely take pictures of my culinary conquests... But since theses are so pretty.......
Presenting, Spitzbueb and Schokokugeli. I tell you they are easier to eat than to make.

Zimtsterne and Vanillegipfeli are in the making

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Torta di mele - Italian Apple Cake

200 grams 00 flour
75 grams unsalted butter - must be at room temp and ideally chopped up - mixes easier
100 grams caster sugar
1 free range large egg - yolk and white separated
100 grams full fat milk
16 grams baking powder
zest of half a lemon
teaspoon vanilla extract / essence of vanilla
1-2 teaspoons salt
300 grams apples - skin taken off and cut into thin-sh wedges

pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

In a food processor (using the whisk head), mix the sugar with the butter on low / medium speed
whilst mixing, add the zest of lemon, vanilla extract, salt and the egg YOLK. Keep the egg white and set aside.
one the above mixture is properly mixed, stop the processor.
using an electric whisk, whisk the egg white to slight stiff peaks.
re-start the processor and begin to add the flour and milk.
once its properly blended, begin to add the stiff egg whites and again mix well. then finally add the baking powder and mix until well blended.

Butter the bottom and sides of a spring form baking tin. line the bottom with parchment paper ideally.
pour the cake mixture into the tin, and begin to distribute it evenly within the tin.
slice the apples and place them evenly on the surface of the dough, to cover all over
sprinkle the surface of the cake with granulated sugar evenly. can use golden sugar as well

place in the oven and allow to bake for 30-40 minutes. or until golden on top.
allow to cool and then pop it out of the cake tin.

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Flamiche aux poireaux et saumon 🗼 💕 or French leek and smoked salmon tart topped with gruyère cheese. Crusty & cheesy topping with velvety soft custard middle (oh and hello kitty)

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I've just finished a batch of Pork Pies

http://www.anexpatwife.com/the-cooking-blog/pork-pies

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STUFFED gnocchi - serve it fried as a starter or have it in a sauce

1.5 KG baked maris piper potatoes
run the peeled baked potatoes through a potato ricer.
add two egg yolks to the potatoes - keep the egg whites for later
add a little grated nutmeg and 3 pinches of sea salt
add a good pinch pepper
add 150 grams of 00 flour
give the mixture a mix with a fork and then do it with hands - don't over do it. once the mixture is smooth, put it onto a work surface. a gentle quick knead into a ball, and then set aside.
in another bowl add,
150 grams ricotta
50 grams of grated parmesan
50 grams of breadcrumbs
100 grams mozzarella or smoked mozzarella ideally
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
a little grate of nutmeg
3 egg yolks - keep the egg whites for later (add them to the initial 2 egg whites)
mix all the above with hands to a paste. and set aside.
dust work surface with good sprinkle of rice flour.
cut a handful of the gnocchi and form into a cylinder shape - rolled in the rice flour - then press down on it with the palm of hands in order to flatten it. use a rolling pin in order to flatten it a little more, so there is space for the gnocchi to be filled with the ricotta filling.
give the egg whites a little mix and then brush the gnocchi surface with a little egg white - will act as a glue
place the ricotta mix into a piping bag - pipe the mixture onto the flatten gnocchi - almost pipping it all the way along but near the egg - this will allow it to then be rolled, and for the stuffing to fill the middle. once rolled, elongate the gnocchi for as thin or thick as you want and then cut with knife into usual gnocchi sized pieces. dust well all along with rice flour.
the gnocchi is now ready to be either boiled as per normal or fried ideally.
serve the gnocchi in sauce:
olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
1 dried red chilli - finely chopped
50 grams / handful of anchovy in oil - drained and finely chopped
200 grams pitted black olives - roughly chopped
3 tablespoons capers - drained and rinsed
250 grams cherry tomatoes - halved
sea salt and ground black pepper
add anchovy oil to hot pan and fry the anchovy, garlic and chilli for 1-2 minutes or until the garlic is aromatic and the anchovy has began to break down
then add the tomatoes, capers and olives and stir over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until the tomatoes have began to collapse and blend into the sauce.
add the boiled gnocchi to the pan with a splash of the cooking water, which is full of starch and will give the mixture a silky consistency
season with pepper and a pinch of sea salt
gnocchi can also be deep fried and dipped in the above sauce.

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i haven't made these before because i didn't want to find out how many of them i could eat in one go

cinamon buns just feel very christmassy to me, so i tried this recipe. if you read the reviews, i think they are right when they say you have to add more flour, less yeast, and more filling.

In order to get the eating timing right I would also recommend starting the process the day before, mix it all together while you are making breakfast or lunch, first rise from morning to lunch or lunch to evening, then roll and add the filling that lunchtime/evening and put in the fridge overnight for the second rise, then take them out in the morning put them in oven, take the dog for a walk, come back to cinnamony niceness.

they were ok but i was expecting them to be better. maybe someone has a better recipe?

waiting for second rise


baked




ps, this is about half the recipe.

Lamb 'Stroganoff' with pappardelle

1 tbsp vegetable oil
900 beef / lamb (making sure to remove all the fat)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, sliced or diced
230 grams sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups beef / lamb broth
1/2 to 1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 tbsp fresh sliced chives

cut the chops into bite size pieces - little strips
salt and pepper the strips generously on cutting board

in large pan with high sides on high heat, add the vegetable oil and wait for it to become very hot and then throw in the meat
allow for it to cook on high heat. the meat will release its own juices and then boil off - allowing the meat to brown in its own juices.
once the meat is nicely browned. take it out of the pan and allow to rest.
in the same pan, turn the heat down to medium and throw in the butter.
throw in some thickly sliced mushrooms and half an onion roughly sliced
sprinkle with a good pinch of salt
allow to saute' until nicely browned.
add two finely chopped cloves of garlic - mix in the garlic and allow to saute' for 30 seconds
then add the flour - stir it in and cook for another 1-2 minutes
then add the dry white wine
then add the beef / lamb / veal stock
give it a good mix and making sure to scrape off the bottom of the pan - adding to the flavour
then add your meat strips back into the pan
add a little more stock
bring it up to a stage where the mixture is just barely simmering with some bubbles. cover and allow to cook on low heat for about 1 hour - give it a stir every 20 minutes on so. more stock can be added depending on how thick you want it to be.
once the stroganoff is nearly ready, stir in a good dollop (one and half tablespoons) of crème fraiche.
add some freshly chopped chives
taste for salt and pepper
serve with rice, tagliatelle, pappardelle, gnocchi or with bread. dollop of sour cream and freshly chopped chives optional!

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Do you like Amaretti biscuits? Do you maybe prefer them to be soft and melt in your mouth? In Italy, we do have a 'morbidi' version called Paste di Mandorla

pre-heat oven to 170 degrees
to make 12

150 grams ground almonds
100 grams caster sugar
1 egg white of medium sized egg
3-4 drops of amaretti liquor or disaronno
powder sugar for dusting the biscuits
12 blanched almonds / toasted almond flakes

pour the ground almonds into a good size bowl. add the caster sugar and mix very well with a spoon.
add the egg white and then mix well with a spoon and then with hands. must be a moist dough that can form little balls between palm of hands.
add the amaretti liquor drops and again mix in well with hands until well blended.

form mouthful size balls with between palm of hands. keeping hands a little damp with water (stops the mixture from sticking to hands)
roll each ball around in powder sugar until well coated.
put the balls onto a baking tray that has been lined with parchment paper.
place almond / almond flake into the middle of each ball, and press down, so half submerged

place the tray into pre-heated 180 degree oven for 5 minutes. after 5 minutes, reduce heat to 170 and bake for 15 minutes. when ready, the biscuits will be cracked and slightly golden. take out and allow to cool. can be eaten warm or at room temp.

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Wild mushroom stew with polenta

handful of pancetta 100 grams (discard if vegetarian)
garlic finely sliced
red chilli finely sliced
few fresh thyme sprigs
roughly chop handful of oyster mushrooms
roughly chop handful of button mushrooms
roughly chop other fine / exotic wild mushrooms
hydrate some porcini mushrooms in hot water
10 cherry tomatoes roughly chopped


abundant olive oil in pan. add pancetta. don't cook it too much. add garlic and chilli. add the leaves of the thyme to it. add the tomatoes. add half ladle of the porcini water and also some of the porcini. season with salt and pepper.
add button mushrooms first. then the shitacke and the wild mushrooms and then the oyster mushrooms. add ladle of vegetable stock.
roughly chop handful parsley and add. cover and let cook for 10-15 minutes max.
then set aside and make polenta.

800ml of water into pan. boiling.
200 grams polenta
add one knob of butter to the boiling water.
pinch of salt
make sure butter melts.
then as stirring the water, begin to add the polenta very slowly. little by little. after 5 minutes, then take off the heat and add some parmesan and one knob of butter. stir in and its ready. serve with mushrooms in traditional way. can grate some more parmesan on top.

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WOW acmilan, all your food looks delish! If you're married, that person must be super lucky eating all your cooking!

thank you! all are basically what gran has taught us.

That's great but very different from the average Italian family household where only the women are expected to go near the kitchen

Good for your grandmother!

oh thank you so much.... Yes very much inspiring.... Bless your gran!
J

Crispy coconut wafers sandwiched with Nutella

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5 minutes?

You must be using instant polenta , as it normally takes over an hour.

Tom

what's instant polenta? normal polenta. the water has to be very very hot with a little salt and butter. begin to add the polenta as you whisk and it won't take longer than the indicated time.

Agreed. Just made some bianco two days ago and it took over an hour for sure. But... this required a lower heat as milk was used in addition to water. Maybe it's possible to flash cook using water only? What brand was used in the quick cook?

I can appreciate if there are different variations outside of Italy, but we only ever make polenta with really hot water with salt and butter added. I will take a pic of the coarse polenta that we usually use, but as I no longer live in swiss, I don't know if you can find it there.

One way of getting the younger members of the family to eat more nuts.

can use any type of nuts - here I was using cashews and pecan that were not toasted.

one tablespoon olive oil
a small pinch of sea salt
a few pinches of fennel seeds - can use them as they are of can powder them down in pestle and mortar

frying pan on medium / high heat. add the fennel seeds and allow them to toast until fragrant. then add the olive oil and then the nuts. give the nuts a good toss. they willl become coated in the oil very easily. you don't need to add too much oil. you can toast them as much or as little as you like - ideally until fragrant.

remove from heat and place the nuts on kitchen paper - to remove any excess oil.

the nuts can be eaten when warm but for best result, they taste much much better when they've cooled. the cooling tends to draw out the excess moisture.

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