Peruvian coffee cream (Crema peruviana al caffè)

I must admit I've been so lazy!

This blog hasn't got an update since the end of april, big shame but I was very busy and a little bit not motivated beacuse of the very few visits.

But I have to say the same story was for my Italian blog and now it's quite appreciated!

Then I'm here to write again now and then, probably this will be the only update untill september because I'm ready to leave to Bangkok for my summer holiday.

You know it's an Italian kitchen blog, then you may ask why I post you a creamy dessert from Peru'...

Well I don't really know why this sweet is called peruvian but the ingredients fit perfectly the Italian taste and I found it on an Italian cooking newspaper! :)

Boil gently half a liter of milk with 3 1/2 oz. of sugar, a vanilla stick and ten whole coffee seeds.

Filter milk and let it get warm.

Caramel in a pan 2 1/2 oz. of sugar with half a glass of water, add 3 1/2 oz. of black chocolate and melt it well.

Wait untill this is almost cold then add the milk, 3 eggs and mix 'till you have a soft cream.

Put this cream in single servings bowls, put on a leak with a little water on the bottom the cook "bagnomaria" for about 30 minutes at medium temperature.

Serve it cold, with some chocolate coffee seeds on top.

Grandma's lemon chicken (Pollo al limone della nonna)

ingredients/6 persons:

6 chicken tights (or even better the upper part)

4 carrots

1 onion

2 celery stalks

1 lemon

3 laurel leaves

parsley

flour

white wine

salt

butter

extra virgin olive oil

Keep off skin from chicken tights then pass them in the flour.

Chop in tiny pieces carrots celery and onion, put in a pan with a little butter and a little E.V.O. oil, add a glass of white wine, laurel leaves, 3 slices of lemon (keep off skin and white part and seeds) salt and half a glass of water.

Cover and let it cook gently for about 15 min. then add tights.

Add a little water if needed (the vegetable sauce must remain really creamy) and cover again.

Cook for about 45 min., turn the meat sometimes.

5 min. before turning off fire add juice of half a lemon and parsley as much as you prefer.

Keep off laurel leaves before serving, it's fantastic with mashed potadoes.

This is my grandma's best recipe according to me: enjoy it!!

Vegetable pastries ( Fagottini con verdure)

4 serves, easy recipe, great results!

Ingredients:

1 carrot

1 courgette

1 little white onion

2 red and saucy tomatoes

extra virgin olive oil

salt

2-3 basil leaves

1 pack of pastry

Chop tomatoes in little cubes and put in a bowl with abundant oil, salt, basil leaves mix and let it rest in fridge for at least 2 hours.

Wash carrot, courgette, put them in the mixer to obtain a sort of purea, peel the onion and chop in tiny pieces.

Put the onion in a pan and fry gently with oil and salt, let it get gold then add purea.

Cook on low fire for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile open the pack of pastry, divide it in 4 squares; when the vegetable purea is read put in the centre of each square a big spoon of purea and close squares in the desired way.

Put in the oven for about 15 minutes, medium heat.

Serve them hot with cold tomato cubes and its sauce.

Chicken with balsamic vinegar and Parmesan (Pollo al balsamico e parmiggiano)

After a while I'm back with a little quick recipe.

Just take a chicken breast, chop in pieces and put it in a bowl.

Add abundant balsamic vinegar, a little salt and abundant grated parmesan cheese.

Mix well and let it rest for about 2 hours in fridge.

When dinner time comes put the chicken and the balsamic in the bowl and put in a hot pan.

Let it cook well, serve hot with fresh salad as side dish.

Light, healthy, tasty...

What do you want more?

THE TOOTHACHE

After bad flu I passed an Easter with toothache.

The result is a tooth extraction (don't know the name in english, you not those awful teeth that comes when you grow up? so painful).

Now I've got a face that is twice the normal size, a bad pain and I'm not eating anything harder than baby food.

Passed the week end with ice bag on the cheek :S

You can figure I can't think about cooking at the moment =.=

SICK

I didn't post for so long but I had a bad flu, I'm very sick and weak and thinking about food makes me feel...ugh!

Fennel gratin (Finocchi al gratin).

 Inspired by a request from a member of DC (Discuss cooking) today I post the recipe to use in a tasty way fennels.
Chop each fennel in four, then boil them in salty hot water untill they're soft.
Put them in a pirex pan with thin slice of butter and cover with grated parmesan.
Let them golden under the grill and serve.
If you want to add taste and softness you can use bechamel instead of butter: cover fennels and mix well then use parmesan.
You can do the same with boiled cauliflower, it's fantastic!
It's a light alternative to pasta al forno or a tasty side dish.