what's cooking wednesday: bagels

I wasn't going to post a recipe today since I honestly haven't been cooking very much lately--we had Christmas dinner at P's parents and we spent New Year's Eve at a friend's house. Indeed, it's the same place we spent New Year's Eve last year, so if you'd like to see some photos from 2006, you can check them out here.

More on the recent New Year's Eve soon, but for now--bagels!

Michelle of Michellanea posted this bagel recipe a while ago for those of us in Italy dying for something, anything that we can smear some cream cheese on, and this recipe definitely delivers.

In my baking frenzy around Christmas, I finally decided to give these a go, and I will definitely be making bagels more frequently around here from now on. The recipe is easy to follow and carry out; the only time-consuming part is waiting for the dough to rise. And then waiting for them to cool off before you dig in.

The measurements are for those of us using metric, but everything is easily convertible these days online, for example at JoyofBaking.com.

Bagels
(makes 8 large bagels)

30 grams fresh yeast
2 tablespoons of oil
3 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon honey
500 grams of flour

Dissolve yeast in 250 ml of warm water and add oil. In large bowl, mix together salt, sugar, and flour. Make a well in the center and add in yeast mixture.

Mix together all ingredients, working in flour on the sides of the bowl in order to get an even mixture. Work dough into a ball.

Cover bowl with a damp towel for about 40 minutes and let dough rise in a warm place; it should double in size. Put a piece of wax paper on the baking sheet you’ll be using for the bagels.

Work the dough for about ten minutes. Divide into 8 little balls. Make a hole in the center of each ball and widen the opening until it begins to take the shape of a bagel.

Let the bagels sit on the warm towel for another 15 minutes while you heat the oven up to 200°C.

In the meantime, bring a large pan of water to a light boil (adding the 1 teaspoon of honey, which is a substitute for malt). Let each bagel boil lightly for about two minutes on each side and then remove and put them back on the damp towel.

If you are adding sesame or poppy seeds, at this point, sprinkle them on a plate and press each bagel down lightly over them.

After about five minutes, put the bagels on the wax paper-covered baking sheet and place in oven for about 20 or 25 minutes until they are golden brown (but not too brown – they will get a bit browner after they’ve cooled), flipping them after about 10 minutes to ensure even baking.

Buon appetito and thanks again to Michelle for the great recipe!

*A clever eye might notice the watermark on this photo refers to a site that doesn't exist yet, but it will. Hopefully soon my friends. Be patient please.

what's cooking wednesday:thumbprint cookies

Or, "12 Christmas Memories: Part III"

(If you haven't yet, do check out Part I and II.)

6. Cookies!

I simply couldn't do a series on my Christmas memories without cookies.

My grandmother always made cookies for the holidays, but my mom? She goes crazy. In addition to making them for the family, she's now started selling trays of homemade cookies and candy--and she's doing so well that I just may have to go to America to help her next year. Go Mom!

And so, making cookies is definitely one of my fondest Christmas memories. From the time I could walk, I was around the kitchen helping make cookies--although for a while there I didn't do much other than steal chocolate chips off the table, earning me the nickname "Cookie Monster" from my mom's friend, her baking partner for many years.

But eventually I worked my way up to working with sprinkles and candied cherries. You know, the Big Time.

My mom made it fun not only for me but also for the friends I was allowed to invite over to help decorate the cut-out cookies--there were far too many stockings and Santas and snowmen and bells and wreaths for just one or two people to decorate.

So at my mom's house, we'd have decorating slumber parties every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Just the other day, in fact, one of my best friends and regular participants in the bake-a-thons left a comment here on the blog longing for the days of such innocent fun.

And I'm so with her on that.

(I'm the one without a blurred face; maybe 12-13 years old here? Not sure.)

And yes, in case you're wondering, my niece is fully prepared to keep this tradition going. Just the other day my mom said that she's getting to the age where she can have some friends over to help decorate (she already helps my mom with the cut-outs).

So next year, 9-year-olds at Nana's!

Before this year, I have never done the Christmas cookie thing by myself--why would I when my mom had it covered? But now that I've been here for a few years and have really missed those tastes of home, I decided that this year I'd make some of my mom's recipes and give out trays to Italian family, friends, and neighbors.

I highly doubt any of them have ever even seen the cookies I made, so it'll be an interesting experience for all of us.

Yesterday I finished up the last of six types that I made this year, and I've already decided that next year I'll try my hand at even more. My mom had sent me some things like chocolate chips and brown sugar, but since I decided on Operazione Biscotti at the last minute, some cookies just weren't going to happen this year for lack of the proper ingredients and tools.

But look out Christmas 2008!

I'm not going to share all the recipes with you now, or even the photos just yet, but I will let you in on what has to be one of the easiest and tastiest cookies ever for this week's What's Cooking Wednesday. In fact, this is a great one to make with kids because they get to play around in the dough as much as they want and they really can't ruin it.

"Unless their hands are dirty," adds my mom.

The words of wisdom never end I tell you.

These classics will also be my entry in Food Blogga's Eat Christmas Cookies event. Go check out all the great cookies over there--just beware you'll probably leave hungry.

Thumbprint Cookies*


2 c flour
3/4 c confectioner's sugar
1 c butter
1 tsp vanilla

Jelly of your choice (I used apricot and strawberry)

Combine flour and sugar and then cut in butter until well distributed. Sprinkle with vanilla and mix dough with hands until smooth.

Shape into 1 inch balls and place about 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet.

Indent centers with lightly floured finger (or thumb!) and fill with jelly.

Bake in preheated 325°F (163°C) oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove to rack to cool.

Easy peasy and tasty too!

*I should note that the original recipe calls for a cup of chopped nuts--I just don't like them in this, so I don't put them in. If you want to, put 1/2 of them in with the flour and sugar in the beginning, and then, after you make the dough into balls, roll them in the remaining nuts. Thanks Christina for reminding me to include this!

Buon appetito!

what's cooking wednesday:tortellini con prosciutto e panna

First of all, Shelley has announced the winner of the Dolce Italiano Contest over at her place--go here to see if it's you. Congratulations winner!

Now. It's holiday time. You're in a rush. I'm in a rush. I'll keep this short.

For this week's What's Cooking Wednesday, you need three ingredients--prosciutto cotto (cooked ham), panna (heavy cream), and tortellini, preferably stuffed with prosciutto crudo. OK, you need salt and water too, but that's it.

Interested? (The clementines in the background are dessert!)

I've seen other versions of this recipe that add butter, cheese, and even an egg yolk, but honestly this is delicious just like this, although, as always, I do encourage you to experiment.

Feel especially free to add other ingredients to spice it up--peas or mushrooms are our favorite. You can also play with the type of pasta from fettuccine to pennette. It's all good.

Tortellini con Prosciutto e Panna

(serves 3-4)

250 g tortellini (half of the bag shown above)
150 g (between 1/4 and 1/2 lb) prosciutto cotto/cooked ham, torn up in pieces
400 ml panna/heavy cream (about a cup and a half)

Prepare tortellini in salted, boiling water.

Meanwhile, heat cream in large saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble. Stir in prosciutto and lower heat, being sure that cream isn't sticking to pan. I use a heat-resistant rubber spatula during this part. Keep the cream and prosciutto mixture warm until the tortellini are ready.

When the tortellini are cooked to your satisfaction, drain them, and combine well with cream and prosciutto.

That's it!

Buon appetito!

dolce italiano contest:sweet apple omelet

So here we are for Round Two of the Dolce Italiano Contest in which you can win a personalized, signed copy of Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma by commenting on any and all of the Dolce Italiano recipe posts across five blogs.

So far, we've had:

Mosaic Biscotti & Sicilian Pistachio Cookies, Sara's Ms Adventures in Italy

Chocolate Kisses & Cassata alla Siciliana, Ilva's Lucullian Delights

Ricotta Pound Cake, Here!

Chestnut Brownies, Shelley's At Home in Rome

Chocolate Salami, Jenn's The Leftover Queen

Be sure to comment by 11:59 p.m. PST on Friday, December 7!

Now I bet you were expecting another cake, perhaps a cookie, a tart, or even a fritter here today? With a name like Dolce Italiano, you might think that Gina DePalma's book is only for expert bakers or at least those with a mean sweet tooth, but that's certainly not the case.

There are also plenty of other recipes to keep everyone happy, including crackers, breadsticks, ice creams, and as you'll see today, even an omelet.

For my second Dolce Italiano recipe and this week's What's Cooking Wednesday, I wanted to choose something to show you just how varied this cookbook really is--and how you can find something to make from what you may already have at home--so here's the Sweet Apple Omelet, or as I like to call it, How to Eat Apple Pie for Breakfast Without Feeling Guilty.

What do I mean by that? Well we all know that the best part of an apple pie is the filling, so here we have that filling tucked inside a perfectly respectable omelet--and the results are spectacular!

As Gina mentions in the book, you don't need to limit this one to breakfast or brunch though. Indeed, I had a sweet apple omelet for dinner the other night; I always was rather fond of breakfast for dinner. I also think the sweet apple omelet would be great in a huge brunch spread--something a little more fancy than scrambled eggs, as much as I love them.

So will I be making this again? Absolutely. This a fast, easy, and delicious recipe that takes something ordinary like an omelet and makes it a special treat. You can easily make it a little healthier by using only egg whites, less/no butter, less sugar (or substitute)...and why not experiment with other fruits and jams as the filling?

Now who doesn't love a recipe as easy, tasty, and versatile as this?

Sweet Apple Omelet
(condensed from Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano)

2 medium Golden Delicious, Rome, or Empire apples
3 tbl extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbl granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbl grappa*

2 tbl unsalted butter
1 tbl honey

4-5 large eggs

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

*Note: I didn't use grappa for two main reasons. The first is that I really don't like grappa so I don't have any in the house; the second is that my stomach is just recovering from a nasty virus and I didn't think I could even handle the smell. If you'd like instructions on how to incorporate the grappa I suppose you'll just have to buy the book (or keep your fingers crossed that you'll win a copy--be sure to comment)!

Peel and core apples, cut them into quarters, then into slices. If you'd like to make a pretty flower to garnish like in the picture above, peel the skin with a sharp knife beginning at the top of the apple in one continuous strip, as demonstrated here and then roll it up and set it on the plate. Thanks Meredith!

Heat a large saucepan over medium and add olive oil, followed by apples. Sauté until they just begin to turn soft, translucent, and tender, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and cinnamon, shaking to coat apples. When apples are completely tender, remove from heat and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over low heat; don't let it bubble. Add honey and swirl the pan so they combine thoroughly. Remove from heat and set aside. Prepare a serving plate dusted with confectioner's sugar.

Crack eggs into medium bowl and whisk until combined. In a nonstick 10-inch omelet pan, melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat, swirling it around to coat bottom of pan completely. When butter begins to bubble, add eggs.

Use a fork or spatula to pull any cooked egg toward the center of the pan while tilting so that any uncooked egg moves to the edges. Continue moving eggs around until they are cooked, 2 to 3 minutes.

Very quickly, spoon some of the cooked apples into the center of the omelet in a straight line spanning the diameter of the omelet. Shake pan to loosen the omelet completely, then fold one side of omelet over apples.

Quickly slide the omelet onto the sugar-dusted serving plate, folding it over on top of itself with the edge of the pan or a spatula. Immediately drizzle the warm honey-butter mixture evenly over the surface of the omelet, and dust with confectioner's sugar (I also sprinkled a little more cinnamon).

Serve immediately, cutting the omelet into 2 large halves or 4 smaller quarters.

I did it in halves, and was plenty full after my half. Yum!

Buon appetito!

Remember to leave a comment here for a chance to win a personalized, signed copy of Dolce Italiano.

Also, be sure to head over to Shelley's At Home in Rome tomorrow and to Jenn's The Leftover Queen on Friday for the final Dolce Italiano recipes!

dolce italiano contest:ricotta pound cake

Welcome to Day 3 of the Dolce Italiano Contest in which you can win a free, personalized, signed copy of Dolce Italiano, the newly-released, highly-acclaimed Italian dessert cookbook by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Mario Batali's Babbo Ristorante Enoteca in New York City.

You can read more about the contest in this post of mine and also over at Shelley's At Home in Rome, home of the event, but here's the gist: Shelley, Sara, Ilva, Jenn, and I are going to be posting recipes from the book over the next two weeks.

In order to be entered into the drawing for the free, personalized, signed copy of Dolce Italiano, you need to comment on the recipe posts; you can comment on all 10 over the next two weeks to maximize your chances of winning.

All comments must be posted by 11:59 p.m. PST on Friday, December 7th to be entered.

So, after you leave me a note here, if you haven't commented on Sara's Mosaic Biscotti from Monday or Ilva's Chocolate Kisses from yesterday, do go over and comment.

When collaborating, we had to figure out which days we would all post our recipes. I, of course, requested Wednesdays to keep the What's Cooking Wednesday theme alive and also to enrich the WCW collection with some delicious Dolce Italiano recipes.

Now to the recipe.

I'm a cake and cookie girl, so it's not surprising that the first dessert I've chosen is in one of those food groups--namely the Ricotta Pound Cake.

I love any kind of cake and I also love ricotta, so I had a pretty good idea I'd enjoy this too.

"Enjoy" doesn't do this justice.

I *love* this cake. LOVE THIS CAKE. The ricotta gives an extra kick to the normally tame (I didn't say boring--did you hear boring?) pound cake as well as an awful lot of moisture. I love how the outside is nice and crunchy but inside it's actually almost wet. This is without a doubt one of the best cakes I've ever made or eaten.

And as Gina wrote in the book, it *is* even better the next day--that just didn't seem possible after I took my first bite nearly fresh out of the oven. I really have to learn to trust the experts.

Ah, and another bonus? It goes great with espresso!

Ricotta Pound Cake
(condensed from Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano)

1 1/2 c cake flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c fresh whole-milk ricotta
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 vanilla bean
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and place rack in center.

Grease and flour 9-inch loaf pan.

In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter, ricotta, and sugar until smooth and light.

Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping sides of bowl after each addition.

If you have a vanilla bean (I didn't), split it lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the blunt side of a small knife, then beat them into the batter along with the vanilla extract. I just used another teaspoon of vanilla extract.

On low speed, beat in dry ingredients to combine them, scrape down sides of the bowl, and beat the batter for 30 seconds on medium.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula. Tap pan on counter a few times to remove air pockets.

Put cake in oven and let bake for 15 minutes, then turn 180 degrees to ensure even browning. Lower the temperature to 325°F (160°C) and let bake until cake springs back when lightly touched, the sides of the cake have pulled away from the sides of the pan, and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 minutes more.

For some reason, mine took another 35 minutes, so do keep a close eye on it. Perhaps it had to do with the water content of the ricotta I used versus what Gina uses? Experts?

Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert it on wire rack to cool completely. Mine came right out of the pan like no other loaf I've made before--the browned outside is key here.

Dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.

As Gina says, flavor is best the next day, and I have to agree. Leftover cake can be stored for up to three days so long as it's wrapped in plastic.

Buon appetito!

Today I'm thankful for:

Ricotta Pound Cake of course! YUM!

Don't forget to comment for your chance to win a free, personalized, signed copy of Dolce Italiano!

Also if you haven't yet, comment on Sara's Mosaic Biscotti and Ilva's Chocolate Kisses as well for more chances to win.

And tomorrow? Get thee to Shelley's At Home in Rome for another tasty Italian treat!

what's cooking wednesday:pumpkin muffins

Last year around this time I had some canned pumpkin but wasn't up for making pies so I looked for another option. I found a recipe for tasty pumpkin muffins, and that's what I'm sharing with you for this week's What's Cooking Wednesday, the Day Before American Thanksgiving Edition.

I like this recipe because, well, I love muffins, but also because it's yet another way to enjoy pumpkin. I heart pumpkin.

If you don't feel like making pumpkin pies this year, give these a try--and throw in raisins for a special treat!

Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 c milk
1/2 c canned pumpkin
1/4 c melted butter
1 egg



Preheat oven to 400° F.

Now I could tell you to do the dry ingredients first and then mix in the wet, but you know what? I just mixed it all together at once and they came out fine. You don't want the batter smooth though; when the flour is incorporated, stop, and leave the lumps.

Grease bottom of muffin cups or use foil muffin cups like I did. This recipe makes 12 big muffins, but I did 6 big and then a bunch of small ones; I'm sorry but I didn't count at the time. Fill cups to 2/3 full and put in hot oven.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

If you'd like to use icing, I did the cream cheese one I put on my birthday carrot cake cupcakes here:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 tbl butter
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

I then sprinkled some nutmeg on top.

Buon appetito!

Today I'm thankful for:

Pumpkin! Ooh do I love pumpkin in all its many forms, especially my mom's pumpkin pie. Mmmm. I hope someone at home has a piece for me.

I also love and miss good old pumpkin spice coffee. Anyone know the best way to recreate that at home? I'm open to suggestions.

I've been adding some nutmeg to my (American) coffee before brewing in the morning, and that's pretty good too. Can you tell I also like nutmeg just a bit?

what's cooking wednesday:roasted chestnuts

Those of you who have been around for a while know that I'm a big fan of simple cooking. Indeed, Calabrian cuisine is noted for its simplicity, using few ingredients but making sure they're the best you can possibly find.

As winter approaches, there's nothing more simple and delicious than what I'm offering you for this week's What’s Cooking Wednesday.

Roasted Chestnuts

Before P came along, I always roasted chestnuts in the oven, slitting the tops with Xs and then roasting them on a cookie sheet drizzled with a little olive oil. With this method, set the oven to 425°F (218°C) and let the chestnuts roast until the outside shell separates from the slits on top (about 15-20 minutes). The inside will be soft.

You can also do this without the oil, of course, but I like the extra kick of flavor.

Now, though, especially since we’ve been using the fireplace more, P just slices off the top and a bit off of each side, and puts them right in the smoldering ashes. Some minutes later and they're done, if a bit dirty. Wipe them off, and look!

Chestnuts roasted in a smoldering fire:

I like to think of them as wearing little vests.

Of course you can also do this with a roasting pan over the fire, and you'll get the kind that Nat King Cole used to sing about. Just always be sure to expose the nut in some way before you roast to avoid explosions. I hear that gets messy.

Whether the roasted chestnuts are from the oven or the fire, be extra careful removing them as they're hot. You can either let them cool first and then squeeze them to get the nuts out of the shells or simply wrap them all in a hand towel while they're still hot and press them till you hear lots of cracking sounds.

I, of course, am far too impatient, so I use my bare hands while the nuts are still quite hot. As my grandmother always said, I think I'm getting "asbestos fingers."

Today I’m thankful for:

Why chestnuts of course! We didn’t have them very often when I was growing up, but they’ve definitely become a winter favorite of mine since I've been here.

I haven’t tried any recipes using them, mostly because I never seem to have any chestnuts around as we eat them too fast.

I welcome any of your favorite chestnut recipes, though!

what's cooking wednesday:pasta with broccoli

The first thing you should note about this week's What's Cooking Wednesday is that I didn't write "Orecchiette con Broccoli/Cime di Rapa."

Why is that important?

Because all those fancy Italian words would mean that we're making a traditional dish from Puglia, Italy's heel and home of yesterday's birthday boy Jeff (it was also our Roam 2 Rome'er's big day!).

As it is, what I offer below diverges greatly from that recipe--go to Judith in Umbria for the real deal, the one with anchovies. Yum!

And to see orecchiette (pasta shaped like little ears), head over to Michellanea and Delinissima.

For the record, I even found a Sicilian version of "broccoli pasta" here, which adds way more stuff than I've ever seen in this dish. Then again, I'm not in Sicily.

On the bright side, no matter how you make it, it's yet another fast, easy, and tasty dish, and you know how much we like those around here.

So why have we diverged so greatly from the norm? Well P was cooking as a result of his loss in our little game the other night, and he's not fond of anchovies in this (although generally loves them) or orecchiette (ever).

And we also like cheese on it, which is apparently another no-no. Eh. So long as it tastes good, right?

And believe me, this does.

Fun Italian fact before we get to the good stuff? Broccoli is an Italian word, so here's at least one thing you can order when you come even if you don't speak the language.

Pasta with Broccoli

Bunch of broccoli, about 8 oz. worth, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1-3 peperoncini depending on your tastes, chopped
Salt to taste

Short pasta of your choice, such as penne shown above

Pecorino Romano to garnish (optional)

First clean the broccoli and put it in a pot of salted boiling water. Let it cook for about 8 minutes so that it's still a bit crunchy. Remove the broccoli with a slotted spoon and set aside. Don't discard the water.

In the meantime, prepare the rest of the ingredients.

After you've removed the broccoli, bring water back to a boil and then add pasta.

Now you can start the sauce by heating olive oil over medium heat and then adding garlic. Fry it for a few minutes, let it brown but (unlike Usher) don't let it burn. Then add peperoncini and let fry for another minute or so.

By this time your pasta should be almost done, so you can add the broccoli to the pan and mix well with the other ingredients. Also add about 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Remember you don't want the broccoli to cook too much more; it doesn't need to be in there long.

When the pasta is al dente, drain and toss with sauce, taking out the garlic first if you like. I usually do because neither of us likes to eat the cloves.

Serve hot and garnish with grated Pecorino Romano cheese (and extra peperoncino if you can handle it!) at the table.

Buon appetito!


Today I'm thankful for:

Seasonal eating and the awesome, fresh, organic produce that I can get from our own garden, from my neighbors, from P's family, and from our markets. I eat so much healthier here than I ever did in the States, and a big part of that is just how good, available, and affordable the produce is here.

And I love that there's a time of year for everything and that's when we eat it. I was just complaining to Amanda at Figs, Olives, Wine the other day that we hadn't gotten any good broccoli yet, and then it appeared at the market the next morning.

You see, I'm craving it because late fall/early winter is when we can have it--the only time we can have it. So now we'll eat it for a good month, two months maybe, get sick of it and quickly become enamored with a newly in-season vegetable or type of bean or whatever.

It's amazing how easily your body falls into a natural eating rhythm when it's not inundated with choices, and I think this is a good thing. I know that I appreciate broccoli, for instance, so much more because I can't have it all the time.

And for all of these things, I am thankful.

what's cooking wednesday:trick or treat tomato eyeballs

Happy Halloween!

Some of you have asked about what's going on in Italy for this "holiday," and I'm sorry to report: niente. That means nothing.

In some parts of the country, they are starting to get children involved with costumes and whatnot, but no one around here does any such thing.

This could be because I don't have kids yet...because if you think my kids are going to miss out on trick-or-treating, well, you've underestimated me and my weakness for candy.

I'll even have the good stuff shipped in from the US and distributed to the neighbors (for distribution to the children, of course, with other healthy treats encouraged too):

Added bonus is that the kids around here most likely won't have to cover up their awesome costumes with big ole coats like we always had to do where I grew up....

Anyway, back to the business at hand, I'm keeping up the Halloween theme for this week's What's Cooking Wednesday and giving you a quick, fun idea for a holiday treat.

But there's a catch--you have to go here to find the recipe for

Trick or Treat Tomato Eyeballs

Why not whip up a batch and then head over to Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun to celebrate?


Also, check out the true ghost stories over at Tui's True Spooks Blog Carnival. Make sure you turn the light on first though! There's some creepy stuff in there.

And, since it is the last day of October and I've yet to post my Monthly Musing, I'll give you a little bit of why I love this wonderful month as we say good-bye for another year:

Sweet sweet October
Only a few words to say
How much I love you...

Sweaters, fireplace fires,
My birthday, delicious soups,
And this year, puppies!

What do you love about October?

what's cooking wednesday: pasta e ceci

Today's What's Cooking Wednesday recipe is a new one around this house (but already a favorite!); it's based on a variety of recipes around the Internet, and it's another easy, delicious soup that will impress--just like we 'em!

And even better, pasta e ceci (pasta and chickpeas)--"ceci" is pronounced CHEH-chee by the way--is a great cold weather dish and completely adjustable according to your tastes--you can make it as thick or thin as you like and add whatever spices strike your fancy, from basil to rosemary to thyme.

Below is my basic recipe, but feel free to experiment!

Pasta e Ceci
(Pasta and Chickpeas)
(makes 2 big bowls of soup)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped or shredded
1 peperoncino (or hot pepper flakes)
1 sprig fresh rosemary

3 cups weakly flavored chicken stock or water

1 1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cup dried soup pasta (something small)

1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Salt to taste

Parmigiano reggiano cheese (optional)

Heat olive oil in pot large enough to hold soup and add onion, garlic, carrot, peperoncino, and rosemary. Cook on low heat until translucent, between 10 and 15 minutes (don't let this burn). Take out rosemary, which I do because we like a subtle rosemary flavor in this. You're welcome to keep it in.

Add chicken stock and chickpeas and simmer for a half hour.

Take out about half the chickpeas and crush into a paste (to thicken the soup). You can do this with a blender/food processor, but I just use the back of a big spoon--fewer dishes (which means less water used to wash them!) and less electricity too. Plus, I'm lazy and this saves me from getting out my handheld mixer, which is annoying to clean. Add this mixture to the soup.

At this point, test for salt--this will also let you know how much salt you should put in the water with the pasta.

About the pasta, I prepare it separately and then combine the two in serving dishes, but most recipes prepare the pasta right inside the soup. I prefer my way so that if there are leftovers, the pasta doesn't soak up all the broth (I've mentioned this before).

After combining pasta and soup, stir in parsley.

Serve hot with grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Buon appetito!

*I'm editing to add a link to a great charity website introduced to me by Jen of A2eatwrite:

FreeRice.com

For the nerds among us (and I know there are quite a few of you like me!), this is a vocabulary test with a twist--for each word you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated through the United Nations to end World Hunger. Plus you'll learn new words and/or feel like a smartypants. Everyone wins!

I should warn you that it's addictive.

what's cooking wednesday: the birthday edition

Perhaps some of you thought I was off tending puppies yesterday or maybe even early birthday celebrating. Don't I wish.

What I was really doing was nearly pulling my hair out over the inexplicable continued crap Internet connection I have. Ever since it went out about 10 days ago, it's been on and off--and yesterday was completely off. Right now it's touch and go (can't access many pages), but I'm keeping positive.

And aside from causing me stress regarding work, it's *completely* thrown off my blogging schedule. Argh.

Guess you'll have to wait another year for today's originally planned post. Or I'll just save it for NaBloPoMo...with which I sincerely hope Telecom Italia cooperates.

So here is What's Cooking Wednesday: the Birthday Edition...a day late for Wednesday, but just in time for my birthday! Woohoo!

For anyone who's curious, I'm 31 today. So send any e-cards in large font please. Hah!

Now, back to the originally scheduled post:

For my birthday, I always have this chocolate cake. It’s my absolute favorite cake in the whole world—especially when my mom makes it.

But I’ve been feeling a little daring lately, in the mood for something different. And that, for me, means carrot cake.

I love carrot cake, haven’t had it in at least four years, and besides—isn’t it just a great autumn cake, spicy and orange and brown and cream cheese icing and yum?

I have never made a carrot cake before, and I’m not entirely sure why not. Probably because my mom isn’t particularly fond of it, so she never passed on a recipe—and goodness knows I stick to the recipes of experts around these parts.

So I turned to these Internets and went for the first recipe that came up. I know. Really selective right? Well you see, I had been going over what I thought would go into a carrot cake in my head, and this recipe fit that, especially with the adjustments listed in the comments. So I made my own tweaks, and below is what I came up with.

This cake is delicious. It’s a subtle carrot cake, and by that I mean it's not at all like some store- or restaurant-produced cakes that make me feel like I'm eating a scented candle. I like my spices subtle, so if you like them stronger, you might want to adjust. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you think you don't like carrot cake, you should give this one a go.

Also, the original recipe had pecans. Some people in the comment section switched to walnuts, but I didn’t add any nuts at all—I'm not a fan of nuts in my cakes in general. But this would’ve been *fabulous* with raisins so I’ll make an effort to find them before I make this again.

My Birthday Carrot Cake

4 eggs
1 c white sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 ¼ c vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla

2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp nutmeg
3 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt

3 c grated carrots

Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan (or, as I did a 6 muffin/cupcake pan and a small loaf pan).

Blend together eggs, sugars, oil, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt and add to mixing bowl a little at a time. At this point, the mixture will be really thick, almost pasty. Now you’re ready to stir in the carrots.

Pour into pan(s), and put in the oven. The original recipe says 40-50 minutes for a full-sized cake. My muffins took about 20 minutes, and the loaf pan about 40. Just make sure to always test with a toothpick in the center—if it comes out with no batter, you’re good.

For amateur bakers, the other trick is the “spring back to the touch test,” which says, not surprisingly, that the cake should spring back to your touch. I find this one a big dangerous though as you can sink the top of your cakes and muffins/cupcakes pretty easily, so I always use a toothpick.

Remove from oven and let cool before icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

The measurements in the original recipe looked really off to me so I used a tried and true cream cheese icing recipe that I’ve made before. You might want to play with this too according to your tastes and how much icing you like (I don’t use much). In fact, on the cake, I just sprinkled some confectioner's sugar on top. Look it's snowing in October in southern Italy!

8 oz softened cream cheese
4 tbl butter
1 ½ c powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla

Beat everything together until smooth and to your desired consistency.

Grating the carrots makes this one a little labor intensive, but it's worth it...especially if you're making it for someone special--like for yourself. Come on, show yourself a little love this Love Thursday!

Happy Love Thursday and buon appetito!

Edited to add a request:
If you leave birthday wishes for me,
please leave the date of your birthday too (no year required!)
so I can return the wish.

what's cooking wednesday: easy, delicious minestrone

Lest you think we’re always making everything from scratch around here, I’m going to clue you in on one of our colder weather staples--minestrone.

Whether you say it with or without that final "eh" (never an "ee" sound please), its etymological origin is the Italian word for soup--minestra--with the augmentative suffix "one" denoting larger or grander, and it's povera cucina (peasant or poor people's cuisine) at its finest.

Minestrone, basically vegetable soup with pasta, is eaten all throughout Italy and there are an uncountable number of recipes for it--some with meat, some without, some with more tomatoes, etc. The idea is to use whatever vegetables are in season and the stock of your choice.

Let me end the mystery now and tell you that I use a frozen minestrone vegetable mix and bouillon cubes. Sure I (and you) could make this from scratch, but it’s just so darn good this way--and so easy too--that I often just make it like this, and I thought you might enjoy a truly simple recipe as well.

Now let me caution you by saying that I’m not sure frozen vegetable mixes are created equal everywhere. The one that I buy is seasoned--there’s parsley, garlic, and basil listed in the ingredients--so you may need to add more seasoning than what I list here. Feel free to experiment.

Also, I like my minestrone a bit more tomato-ey than the recipe here, but since P doesn’t, I’m giving you the way I make it most of the time. If I make this soup just for me (and sometimes I'll make two small pots, one for each of us), I add some tomato sauce (just crushed tomatoes) after the broth. You could add fresh tomatoes, but around here in the winter, the best flavor would come from sauce.

Minestrone

3 1/2 cups water
2 bouillon cubes (adjust for your taste)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped finely
2 small cloves garlic, minced
1 bag of frozen vegetables

Small soup pasta

Heat pot of water on high, and when boiling or near boiling, add bouillon cubes to dissolve, making what we’ll now call broth.

Meanwhile, in large soup pot, heat olive oil on medium and then add onion and garlic and let cook until tender, nearly brown. At this point, your broth should be ready, so pour that into the larger pot with the garlic and onions.

Add vegetables (still frozen and in proportion to the water you’re using) and let cook for about 20 minutes to a half hour, testing vegetables to make sure they’re done before serving.

For the pasta, the only rule is to use something small; we use lumachine, pictured above, which are like little elbow macaroni. Boil pasta separately in salted water and then put a small amount of pasta in each serving bowl and add soup. This method ensures that you can then store leftover soup without mushy pasta soaking up the broth.

Serve immediately with some crusty Italian bread. Note that P (and probably many Italians) would never eat bread with this as there's already pasta in it. Duh. I, on the other hand, always ate soup with bread growing up and continue to do so.

No excuses on not trying this one. It really couldn’t get much easier--or tastier.

Buon appetito!

what's cooking wednesday: pasta alla norma

I apologize in advance to those who expressed their dislike of eggplant/aubergine when I stuffed them a few weeks ago...because we're going at the melanzane again today.

For this week's What's Cooking Wednesday, we're pairing them with tomatoes, basil, garlic, onions, and pecorino cheese in Pasta alla Norma, a Sicilian dish whose origins are in dispute (read more here) but always involve Catania's own Vincenzo Bellini and one of his most famous operas, "Norma."

I should probably add an "alla Sognatrice" at the end of the name of this dish because this is my take on the traditional recipe, which includes a kind of cheese called ricotta salata. It's not all that easy to find, so I substituted pecorino, as did blogging buddy Sara over at Ms Adventures in Italy recently.

Other differences: some recipes call for sliced eggplant, but I prefer it diced, and almost all require you to crumble the ricotta salata cheese--I could've done that with the pecorino, I suppose, but I prefer it grated.

You're free to do as you like of course.

Pasta alla Norma

4 small eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Peperoncino to taste
1 can of diced tomatoes
8-10 basil leaves, torn
Spaghetti or penne pasta

Wash and dice eggplant. Place in colander and salt well, being sure to coat all sides (use coarse salt if you have it). Let sit for about a half hour and then remove eggplant from colander and pat dry.

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add eggplant and cook until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.

Add onion, garlic and peperoncino, and then after a few minutes, add tomatoes. Let simmer for about 15 minutes or until the tomatoes are done to your taste.

In the meantime, prepare pasta in large pot of boiling water.

When sauce is just about finished, add basil, and then combine pasta and sauce--enough to coat the pasta.

Serve immediately with cheese on top.

Buon appetito!