Salame di Cioccolato

Grey day, sad day, need something to cheer me up...

What better than a super Chocolate dessert?

So, here I am with my Salame di Cioccolato recipe!

For it I used pure and organic cocoa powder, Piedmont hazelnuts and Gallette a simple biscuits made of flour, milk and sugar.

The recipe is simple, so simple that it is essential to use a good butter, not salted, fresh and without any weird no-cholesterol, low-fat descriptions on the package. Butter must be butter! It's not evil, the important thing is to eat it right and do not exceed! It would be amazing to use the farmer's butter you can buy at the green-market, for example in Union Square.

So, let's start!

Salame di Cioccolato

TOOLS:

• a mixer
• 2 bowl
• wax paper (carta forno)

INGREDIENTS:

• 7 oz fresh butter (200 gr burro)
• 4,5 oz sugar (130 gr zucchero)
• 7 oz biscuits (200 gr biscotti tipo Oro Saiwa)
• 2 eggs
• 1,7 oz cocoa powder (50 gr polvere di cacao)
• 1,7 oz almonds (50 gr mandorle)
• 1,7 oz hazelnuts (50 gr nocciole)
• 1,7 oz pine nuts (50 gr pinoli)

FIRST STEP:

• Whip up the albumens with a little pinch of salt until firm and set apart in the fridge

montare a neve gli albumi con un pizzico di sale finchè non sono sodi e metterli in frigo

SECOND STEP:

• Grossly crumble the biscuits

sbriciolare grossolanamente i biscotti

• Grossly mince (with the mixer) almonds and hazelnuts being careful to keep them in quite big pieces

tritare grossolanamente mandorle e nocciole facendo attenzione a mantenerle in pezzi abbastanza grandi

THIRD STEP:

• Whip sugar and butter, than add the egg yolks, the cocoa powder and mix

Montare il burro con lo zucchero, quindi aggiungere i tuorli delle uova, il cacao e mescolare

• Add the crumbled biscuits and continue to mix, than add the albumens and gently combine with the other ingredients

aggiungere i biscotti sbriciolati, mescolare quindi aggiungere gli albumi e incorporare gentilmente agli altri ingredienti

• Now add the hazelnuts, the almonds and the pine nuts and go on kneading all the ingredients toghether: so funny!

aggiungere nocciole, mandorle e pinoli e continuare a impastare: è così divertente!

FOURTH STEP:

• create a "salame" and wrap it in the wax paper. Keep in the freezer for one night before eating. When you want to eat it just put it into the fridge for about half an hour before serving it and ... enjoy!

creare un "salame" con l'impasto e avvolgerlo in carta forno. Conservare in freezer per una notte prima di consumarlo. Quando lo si vuole mangiare metterlo nel frigo per mezz'ora circa prima di consumarlo e...buon appetito!

Tiramisù, subito!

I have to admit, recently I have been a little absent for what concerns the "new recipes". The fact is that I was too busy in the eating process! I don't know if you have Italian friends, or you are Italian and you have already experienced something like this, but every time I come back home (and the same happened to me when I used to live in France and I came back in Italy for visiting) the way to say welcome is always to invite me at wonderful lunches or dinners. I love the feeling. I love to feel the love that people put in the dishes they cooked to say "hey, welcome back!". I really enjoy this, BUT, of course, if I'm always invited, I don't cook. So this is the explanation to my recipes-absence!

Anyway, one Saturday morning, things were back to "normal" and I did what I used to always do on Saturday when I lived in Italy: COOK, a lot, with my mom.

My dad wakes up early and he goes to the market to find the list of ingredients we wrote for him the evening before. Me and my mom wake early too and start preparing for the recipes we are going to cook. And than: the magic! The kitchen becomes an animated, fragrant and colorful world! We cook a lot to prepare also for the first days of the week when works and commitments don't leave space to cooking. Than, mid-morning, coffee pause (in the garden, with the cats "ronroning", if the weather is nice) and than let's start again! Love this!

So, that "regular - Italian - Saturday" we cooked, among other things, this:

TIRAMISU'

I know this is a super classic, but it's so easy, comforting, fresh and beautiful that I could not resist! Plus, this is a different version, a lighter one. In fact, instead of using only mascarpone, we use half mascarpone and....half RICOTTA. I swear, it is amazing, more delicate and guilt free!

TOOLS:

• 2 bowls
• electrical whisks (fruste elettriche)
• a rectangular pan (teglia rettangolare)
• 1 caffettiera!

TIMING:

• 20 minutes + rest!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs (uova)
• 1/2 cup white sugar (100 gr zucchero)
• 7 ounces mascarpone (200 gr mascarpone)
• 7 ounces ricotta (200 gr ricotta)
• 4 tablespoons of Amaretto di Saronno (4 cucchiai di Amaretto)
• 10 1/2 ounces Savoiardi biscuits (300 gr di Savoiardi)
• coffee, italian style, please!
• cocoa powder

FIRST STEP:

• prepare coffee (I usually make a caffettiera for 6 people) and than put it in a large plate adding the Amaretto liquor. Set apart.

preparate il caffè (di solito io faccio una caffettiera da sei tazze), mettete il caffè in un piatto largo, aggiungete il liquore e lasciate da parte.

SECOND STEP:

the process for this dessert is very easy, you just have to be sure to perfectly beat the eggs with the sugar until you will obtain a light-yellow "mousse". Only at that point you can add the other ingredients.

il processo per questo dolce è molto semplice, dovete solo fare attenzione a montare pperfettamente le uova con lo zucchero finchè non otterrete una crema spumosa di colore giallo chiaro. Solo allora potrete aggiungere gli altri ingredienti.

• beat the albumen with a pinch of salt until they become very firm. Set apart in the fridge

sbattete gli albumi con un pizzico di sale finche non diventano duri e metteteli in frigo

• beat the egg yolks with the sugar

sbattete i tuorli con lo zucchero

• add mascarpone and ricotta and continue to use the whisks

aggiungete mascarpone e ricotta usando sempre le fruste

• when the cream is done turn off the whisk and, using a wooden spoon, add the albumen. Incorporate album gradually always mixing the cream top-down. This way the albumen will not lose the air it had incorporated when you whipped up it.

quando la crema è pronta prendete un cucchiaio di legno e con questo incorporate poco alla volta hli albumi. Dall'alto verso i basso per non smontarli

THIRD STEP:

• spread the bottom of the pan with 3 tbsp of the mixture

spalmate tre cucchiai di crema sul fondo della teglia

• dip the savoiardi in the coffee-liquor, just for few seconds!

pucciate i savoiardi nel caffè, ma solo per pochssimi secondi! altrimenti si sfasciano!

• arrange them in the pan so that they cover perfectly the surface

disponete nella teglia i savoiardi uno accanto all'altro in modo da coprire perfettamente la superficie

• spread half of the mixture on the savoiardi

spalmate metà della crema sui savoiardi

• repeat the operation for another level

ripetete l'operazione per un altro livello

FOURTH STEP:

• set apart. this dessert has the rest some hours in the fridge before you can eat it. Better one entire night. Before serving it spread the surface with the cocoa powder.

Mettete in frigo, questo dolce deve riposare qualche ora in frigo prima di essere consumato, meglio una notte intera. Prima di servire spolverizzate con la polvere di cacao

Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

Salvia Fritta and Baci di Dama!

The party was amazing, but I haven't took so many pictures because I was directly involved in helping with the guests and the food :) and I'm still completely confused by the jet leg!!! ... anyway here are some!

In the picture below you can see some of the most famous "desserts" of Piemonte. The round ones are called BACI DI DAMA (Lady's kisses). They consist in two buttery biscuits made with local hazelnuts with, in the middle, a fill of chocolate.

The lightly brown and irregular ones are called BRUT&BUN (this is Piedmont dialect! It means Ugly&Good) and are made of an hazelnuts meringue.

Hazelnuts, Nocciole Piemontesi, are a typlical product of Piemonte. I'm sure you all know very well one of the most famous food made with them: Nutella! (Ferrero is, in fact, a Piedmont brand). A part of Nutella you can find delicious hazelnuts and cocoa spread in several patisseries all around the region...gnumm!

Here is a picture of one of the dishes my mom cooked for the party. It's Sage and Borage deep fried in batter. The sage and Borage are from our vegetable pot! I love them, so crunchy and delicate...

For the moment that's it, but tomorrow I'm going to take some pictures of my favorites places in Turin!

Oh my ... I'm so drowsy .... zzzzzz .... poor me!

A presto...!

Torta della Nonna

Torta della Nonna means "Grandmother's cake" and, in this case, I'm referring to my grandmother Maria. Making a grandmother cake, to me means regain that "comfort" I felt when I was a child. It means remember of those days when play and discover were the main activities of the day, just spaced out by tasty "merende" (afternoon snacks). I ate slices of fresh bread just spread with some good extra-virgin oil, vinegar and salt ... or home made cake like this one.

This is not a super chic recipe of a fancy cake , it's "just" a simple act of love!

TORTA DELLA NONNA

TOOLS:

• 1 bowl
• electric whisk
• 1 cake pan

TIMING:

• 1 hour

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 cup flour (300 gr farina)
• 2 cups sugar (200 gr zucchero)
• 3,5 oz butter (100 gr burro)
• 2 tablespoons baking powder (una bustina di lievito vanigliato)
• 1/2 tbs vanilla
• 3 eggs (3 uova)
• 3 golden delicious apples (3 mele delizia)
• the juice of 1 lemon + 1 mandarin (il succo di un limone e un mandarino)

Preheat oven at 350 F

Scaldare il forno a 180°C

FIRST STEP

• peel the apples and cut them in slices of 0.2 inches

sbucciare le mele e tagliarle in fette di mezzo centimetro circa di spessore

• drizzle with the lemon&mandarin juice

irrorare con il succo del limone e del mandarino

SECOND STEP

• beat the eggs and the sugar all together until the mixture become light and soft

sbattere le uova con lo zucchero finchè il composto non diventa più chiaro e spumoso

• add to the mixture the melted butter (room temperature) and beating

aggiungere al composto il burro fuso a temperatura ambiente e continuare a sbattere con le fruste

• add, spoon after spoon, the flour and the baking powder winnowed (+ vanilla), keeping beating

continuando a sbattere aggiungere la farina e il lievto setacciato

THIRD STEP

• put the apples into the mixture and gently mix

mettere le mele nel composto e mescolare delicatamente

FOURTH STEP

• transfer in the cake pan (covered by a sheet of parchment paper), sprinkle sugar on it and cook for about 40 minutes

trasferire il composto nella teglia foderata con carta da forno, spoleverare con zucchero e cuocere per circa 40 miuti (dipende dal forno)

Enjoy, and maybe you'll find out that life is still playing and discovering ...