Meringata You&Me

...lovely dessert, lovely end of our sunday lunch barbecue...

Two layers of Italian meringue baked for hours at very low temperature... Between the layers, a lovely smooth Rum Chantilly Sauce...

I served it with Morello cherries in syrup...

Panmeini...

made with fine cornmeal... they're lovely with a cup of tea or in the morning caffelatte...

My father in low loves them topped with ground hazelnuts like these...

Cocoa Macarons...

au sucre cuit, meringa italiana (cotta)...

My beloved Macarons

I find these French traditional little cakes lovely and though made from few simple ingredients...

they are interesting for the two main techniques followed for making them...

In these days of intense thinking over myself,...I enjoy experimenting with food in the silence of my kitchen and here some the results are...

I like dedicating these "trials" again to my favourite Chef, who is away at the moment, but I feel like he comes and visits my blog some times... and I am still thinking about going to the Roast before late...

Plain Macarons, made with the technique "au sucre cuit" (Italian Meringue)

they are filled with Dulce de Leche (present from Argentina) and Chocolate Mousse...

and Cocoa Macarons made with the technique "au blanc monté" (French Meringue)

they are filled with Dulce de Leche and Tyrnimarja Preserve (finnish speciality) and topped with few grains of salt...

One important thing: I have changed the main ingredient, have not used the almond meal...

Home Made Tofu...

...and this our dinner meal based on the tofu made in the morning...

Tofu with some spicy pepper sauce (my recipe) and tofu with some Japanese spice mix... Peppers and Aubergines as side dish.

Hey, Chef Lawrence....,!

the recipe is dedicated to you! In fact, during all my cooking, this week, I've been thinking of you and the trial a lot...

I suppose I am missing a great chance, maybe the most important of my life...but I am not confident enough... I know I should think less, take the flight to London and come... Doing the working trial at the Roast would be a good experience anyway...

However, that would not be me. I always do things if I am sure about succeeding! The Roast seems to me such an important and huge place, so far from my reality and little experience... I got stuck into my worries of not being up to it...

but..

I don't want to give up wishing to come and hoping for another chance at the Roast later on this year...

Working and Learning from you remains my great wish!!!

Please, don't stop visiting my blog...

Seitan with Onions...

...and creamy pea sauce...

I am sorry about the presentation, but I took the photos just before having dinner... Fabry and I were starving and looking forward to taste the Seitan I had been making in the morning..

In fact, I made this recipe starting from here...

Mr SEITAN, my daily production...

Pizza Margherita...

makes always my husband happy... He would eat pizza every day...! Infact, he has to wait till saturday to have this pizza, that I always prepare...but it takes time...and love...

The base is crunchy and soft at the same time, pure tomatoe sauce and basil leaves on top, plenty of Mozzarella and few knobs of Crescenza cheese...

Mousse au Chocolat...

as I like...

Never mind all the recipes by Torreblanca,...by Hermè,...by Ducasse,...by all the Great ones I have been reading about these days...

Never mind if it's not a Chef Recipe...

It's simply the chocolat mousse exactly as I wanted...with bitter chocolate (70% cocoa), egg yolks, whipped cream and Italian meringue, according to my personal taste...

Look at the results...

...Doesn't it look good?

I guarnish it with some whipped cream and crumbs of baked meringue and confit rosmarine...serve it with peach sauce and crunchy Pain d'Amande...

A lovely refreshing dessert for this quiet hot sunday, when I am still thinking about going or not to London for the working trial at the Roast... "Should I stay or should I go"...

Italian Cheese Cake

While waiting for the important visit (in this blog of course!) of Mr Lawrence Keogh, Head Chef at the Roast in London...



I make my Cheese Cake to offer him...

I use some organic Ricotta, very fresh, made yesterday by the shepherd, fresh eggs from our hens... To give the cake a distinct refreshing flavor of lemon, I add tbsps of fresh lemon juice and grated lemon zest... Completing with a small amount of sour cream as in the New York Style...

I bake the cake slowly in the oven at low temperature...

...and here it is...

for You Mr Lawrence...

...a lovely Ricotta Cheese Cake on a Digestive Base aromatized with ground ginger, served with nectarine peach (grown in our garden!) sauce and with wild blackberries and lavander to garnish...

I hope you appreciate my gift... YOU'RE VERY WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN!!!

Melting Heart Pudding...

...with a lovely nutmeg flavour, winter basil leaves and lavander decorations,

on a Pannacotta and strawberry sauce base...

Shaped Spinaches..

Pappardelle casalinghe...

...Handmade Pappardelle with Walnut Pesto Sauce...

I am not keen on Pasta (not a good Italian, am I? ) and I don't make it often, even if I should, as I know my husband like it much...

However, today, having some fresh duck eggs and needing some more practice for the final exam of the course for cook, I decided to prepare the dough and make some Pappardelle...

In the fridge, there was still some of the Pesto Sauce I'd made with fresh basil and walnuts (without Parmigiano) and few cherry tomatoes to garnish...

It's been a real surprise for my husband coming from work at lunch time... He's enjoyed the Pappardelle so much...!!!

Infact, they were good: the right thickness, right cooking time, right flavour and a good marriage with the Pesto Sauce and cherry tomatoes...

I must do it often, I even enjoyed making it ...

Traditional Meat Balls

...floured and fried...cooked in tomatoe sauce...

Alternatively, rolled in bread crumbs and fried...

Parmigiana in mould...

...with Pesto Sauce decorations...

Quiche Lorraine

...the original recipe...


...using very good quality bacon, the one my father-in-law makes himself...

Pea Soup...

served lukewarm with crunchy cubes of carrots and onions, Pesto sauce and Parmigiano Tuilles (Sprinkled with Coconut rapè) to garnish...

is a lovely light lunch choice on a hot summer day!

Basket of Bread

It is always pleasing for a customer being welcome with a little present...a lovely basket of bread...while it's looking at the menù...

This is just an idea of different kinds of bread you can delight with people coming to your restaurant...

Triangles of Onion Focaccia (dough aromatized with rosmarine and sage), Walnut chip Twists (same aromatized dough), Poppy seed Knots made from milk bread with lemon zest and Fennel seed Croissants from the same dough...