Chufi

I was never much tempted to make summerpudding. Somehow the thought of 'bread and fruit' was not very appealing to me.. but after following this thread and seeing the gorgeous pictures, there was no doubt what to make when I was presented with a large bucket of currants and raspberries! I made it for a friend's birthday party. It served 15, in small slices, after a large dinner. It was much, much better than I expected. The bread is really transformed by the long soaking process.. and I was surprised how balanced the flavors and textures were. I also shamelessly stole Abra's idea of the cinnamon whipped mascarpone and it was very, very good! There's blackberry sauce on top, to cover up some white spots.

Yesterday I watched a friend cook paella for 20 on his birthdayparty. (Well, there were 15 of us, but it easily would have fed 20 ) chicken, sausage, beans, squid, onions and garlic frying. He is adding peppers and stewed pork. the rice is added to the pan, along with 3 liquids: tomatosauce, chickenstock (with saffron) and shellfish stock. Almost ready, the shellfish gets added to the pan. As you can see this is a giant pan.. large enough to fit over the 4 burners of the stove: Here's the birthday-boy dishing it up: It was delicious. We had a bit of trouble getting the rice evenly cooked, because of the way the pan was positioned over the burners, the rim cooked faster than the center. But this was solved by stirring gently and turning the pan around . There was a good crust.. just nicely charred and crispy!

When I made panelle I had a very hard time getting the batter smooth. The chickpeaflour made a lot of lumps.. I even ended up pressing the whole thing through a sieve before letting it cool in the fridge. It was such a hassle that I hesitate making them again.. How did yours work?

that seafood paella looks so good! Did you just put the seafood on top and let it cook in the heat from the pan, or did you cover the pan (with the barbecue lid) to steam them? The prawns look so moist and delicious. I wouldn't mind a slice of that cake, too.

I stirred some leftover blackbeans and some sauteed chicken breast into the leftover-leftover mole. Stuffed it into soft warm flour tortilla's.. served with zucchini-basil-parmesan fritters, and tomato-coriander-jalapeno-salsa. I'm so glad there's still more mole in the freezer. This stuff is divine!!

A big bowl of watermelon chunks and strawberries.

those arancini! Oh wow. I want them. I need them! Is that an 'ordinary' ragu Bolognese, and saffron risotto? Could you use leftover saffron risotto for that? The sweets also look amazing.

when I was 'investigating' chiles for the Mole Poblano cook-off, I learned a very interesting thing: the chile peppers that are sold all over Holland as 'spanish peppers' are actually botanically known as Dutch red and Dutch green. Apparently these are professionally cultivated from Indonesian cayenne's to create a sweeter, less pungent, more marketable product. This has resulted in a pithy seedy inside (which needs discarding before use), and a medium-hot which makes them suitable for use in salads and cooked dishes. (quoted from this website, a very extensive chile database) So now I'm thinking maybe the Dutch are also growing a new kind of jalapeno that has no heat and no flavor, just to make it more 'marketable'? Ugh.

I just can't stop rolling.. Zucchini salmon involtini: pieces of salmon fillet wrapped in slices of zucchini (cut lengthwise). I put a dollop of creme fraiche and a sprig of lemon thyme on each piece of salmon. They were very good.. quite rich. I panfried them and deglazed the pan with white wine, then stirred some creme fraiche and lemon juice in the pan juices to make a sauce.

I was very excited when my market started selling jalapenos. I bought a couple and used them for my first ever skillet cornbread. When I was chopping them up I had a bite and was surprised at the bland flavor. I could take a bite, seeds and all, without noticing any heat (or much flavor, for that matter). The cornbread turned out great but I feel the peppers did not contribute any flavor or spicyness. All they added was nice flecks of green. I never tasted a jalapeno in my life. What should they taste like? What's the best way to bring out their flavor? or maybe my dutch supermarket is selling me inferior jalapenos? here's what they look like:

I suddenly had a craving for mole.. luckily I had some in the freezer, leftover from the Mole cook-off. Sauteed some pork fillet, stirred this into the mole. Served with jalapeno skillet cornbread (first time I made this, delicious!) , chipotle-spiced black beans with fresh oregano and sour cream, and cucumbersalad. edited to add picture

they look great. Is that just chuncks of eggplant fried in hot oil? Or did you add anything - flour, spices, etc.? at least your comments on you public bathroom pics had me laughing out loud. And that Chipotle peppercorn sauce is inspirational!

Glad your dinner went well! I would have been a happy guest at your table! from looking at the menu, I can almost feel how your mind worked while you were checking out all the suggestions, and how you combined them into the meal. I love that process and it's fun seeing it at work in someone else.

Glad you liked my blog Kevin I was wondering, will you be doing Panelle? I made some today, only instead of frying the pieces I baked them in the oven with a little bit of parmesan sprinkled on top. I loved the texture and the faint chickpea-flavor.

another roll-up adventure tonight and one that did not work out very well I blanched cabbageleaves and made a stuffing of cottagecheese, grated aged gouda, sauteed leeks, some herbs and spices. The mix was quite firm. Stuffed and rolled up the leaves and fried them in a bit of oil. They looked fine for the first minutes and then they became very limp and flabby, I guess the cheese stuffing melted too much, and they ended up rather unappetizingly soft textured. Hm. The problem was in the filling I guess, too much cheese?

Elie that loos delicious. Is it churned in an icecreammaker or just frozen in a loafpan? Like a parfait? would you be willing to share the recipe?

My icecreammaker broke down about a year ago and I never got round to buying a new one. So I made my icecream in the freezer.. taking it out and whisking it up every 45 minutes or so.. it took forever to freeze.. and when it was finally frozen, it was midnight and I wanted to go to bed! So we waited to try it until tonight. The flavor was absolutely fantastic but I'm not very happy with the texture. In spite of my frequent whisking it still has a lot of ice crystals. I need a new icecream maker! anyway this is my cook-off contribution: blueberry lime coconut icecream

so you would put the chicken on top of the prosciutto? Interesting, I would sooner think of doing it the other way around. But I suppose this way the prosciutto keeps the chicken moist?

When I was at the market today I spotted fresh sardines, thought of you and this thread, and immediately changed my dinner plans and decided to make pasta con le sarde! I have to admit I had never made this before and never even tasted it. I used a combination of Marcalla Hazan's and Anna del Conte's recipe (Marcella's method, and Anna's ingredients). It turned out pretty good! (There's a pic of it in the Dinner thread)

Inspired by Kevin72's great Italian thread, I made pasta con le sarde (with fresh sardines). still in the freezer, firming up, is dessert: blueberry coconut lime icecream edited for link

Involtini. You could just call them rolls, I know, but I like the sound of the Italian word and actually, to me as a dutch girl both words are equally exotic! What I'm talking about is a thin slice of something - meat or vegetable - stuffed with a tasty mixture of ingredients, rolled up and fried or baked. Endless possiblities! Last week I made eggplant involtini. Thin slices of eggplant (cut length-wise) were briefly grilled, then stuffed with a mixture of raw ground beef, pinenuts & basil. I covered the bottom of an ovenproof dish with a thin layer of simple tomato sauce, put the rolls in and baked for about 30 minutes until the beef was done and the sauce thickened. Yum. yesterday I made swordfishrolls. Thin slices of swordfish (the fishmonger was not happy with me ) spread with a mix of breadcrumbs, capers, parsley, parmesan and mozzarella. Fried for a couple of minutes in olive oil, sprinkled with parsley and lemon juice, oh my this was the best thing I had cooked in weeks! Tomorrow, cabbagerolls with a cheesestuffing are on the menu. What do you like to stuff and roll?

Swordfish rolls (stuffed with a mixture of breadcrumbs, parsley, capers, parmesan and mozzarella.. oh they were sooo good) yellow pepper stuffed with bulgur, sultanas, pinenuts, tomato, mozzarella and fresh oregano

Little meatballs could be prepared ahead and reheated. The meatballs could be flavored in anumber of ways - a recent favorite of mine is sultanas, pinenuts and thyme. Dill and lemon zest is also great. You could simmer them in a tomatosauce but maybe that's too much tomato after the gazpacho. Maybe some goats-cheese crumbled over the lentils? For a veggie option: quiche instead of tortilla? spinach & red pepper quiche would go really well with the lentils. just thought of another one. Don't know how you feel about roast cauliflower but I can highly recommend a salad of roast cauliflower, hardboiled eggs, and lots of chopped parsley, and breadcrumbs fried in butter sprinkled on top. Good as it is but even better with bits of crispy bacon. I have also added chickpeas to this but in combination with the lentils that's maybe not a good idea.

I'm so excited that you're doing Sicily this month! Coincidentally, for some strange reason, I'm really into southern Italian cooking at the moment .. looking forward to getting inspiration from you! that really does look easy. Do you think I could use part goatsmilk (available in my supermarket) to get a more goaty/sheepy taste? How much acid do you use to that amount of milk/cream? And another question - how long does the ricotta keep after the straining, and how do you store it?

it looks beautiful. Do you have a pic of the inside (when it's cut)? I always wonder if it holds together or not.. does is cut into neat slices or does it collapse on the plate?