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Un po' di pepe

~ …… (oon∙poh∙dee∙PEH∙peh) Cristina writes about interesting stuff /Cristina scrive di cose interessanti

Un po' di pepe

Tag Archives: Gluten-free baking

In My Kitchen, April 2019

08 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Art projects, Mangiamo!

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

Caputo Fioreglut, Gluten-free baking, In my kitchen, Leftovers printmaking exchange, Pasta fatta a mano, Pomodori, Printmaking

The last few weeks, my kitchen table has been a multipurpose space, doubling as a greenhouse and an art studio.  For the 4th year in a row, I am participating in the ‘Leftovers’ printmaking exchange.  The idea is to use leftover paper and other materials to make an edition of small prints.  I need to send 15 hand pulled prints via Wingtip Press to the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force in Boise.  1 print will be reserved for silent auction to support hunger relief and 2 will be part of travelling exhibitions. Last year, my print went on a Grand Tour to China, Wales, Whangarei New Zealand, Reno Nevada and Boise!  The remaining 12 prints are exchanged with other participating printmakers. In a few months, I will receive my ‘leftovers’ package in the mail with 12 prints  from around the world!

I have a beautiful old aluminum scolapasta (colander) in my kitchen that just oozes character.  I worked on my sketches and carved the linoleum here, but will do the printmaking in my little studio space.  I have to post the prints by April 10th! Papà has pomodoro seedlings growing on my back porch.  They are covered in plastic as it has been sunny, but cold.  I was given more seeds by a friend, so 2 weeks ago, right after la luna piena –the full moon, I started growing them at the end of the kitchen table by the big window.  Piselli and pepperoncini are growing nicely too!I made ravioli with funghi-mushroom filling but I could not seem to decide what size or shape to make my ravioli/agnolotti/mezzalune!  Despite the lack of symmetry, they tasted good, although I prefer my usual ricotta filling.

Some time this month, I plan to invite my coworkers over for pizza, but 2 of them have Celiac, so I need to make gluten free dough.  Mannaggia!  My experience with gluten free dough is that it tastes like crap, with the consistency of styrofoam.  Potato, rice and corn flour all result in a dense blob of yuck, yuck and yuck!  Bleh!  My local family run generi alimentari Renzullo’s finally started selling Caputo Fioreglut.  This is a gluten free flour from Italia that I read about on both Paola‘s and Silvia‘s blogs.  They are both in Australia and raved about it, but it was not available here.

I bought a bag for $12.00 (!) and decided to try focaccia first.  That way, if it came out as a sticky, unpalatable blob of yuck at least I did not waste ingredients on it.  Fioreglut has some rice and corn flour, but the main ingredient is farina di grano saraceno-buckwheat flour!  I followed the recipe on the bag, since it was almost the same as my usual recipe.  Making gluten free dough is the opposite of making regular bread dough.  Usually you want to knead the dough as much as you can to make it light and airy.  Gluten free dough must be handled as little as possible to keep it together.  My white blob of dough looked questionable, but it did rise.  I dimpled it with my fingers and added rosemary, salt and parmigiano, made the sign of the cross and put it in the oven. I could not believe the results-it was actually delicious!  Just look at the photo!  Before inviting my friends over, I will try focaccia Pugliese, then pizza.

This ‘In my kitchen’ post is linked to the worldwide monthly get together of food bloggers hosted by Sherry of Sherry’s Pickings.  Click to read the other participating posts.  Buon appetito, Cristina

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Your Favourite Recipe

09 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

Cannolo Award, Capri, Dolcevitabloggers, Dolci, Gluten-free baking, Gluten-free chocolate cake, Southern Italy, Torta Caprese, Traditional recipes

For the second time in 3 months, I wrote about the wrong topic for the monthly #dolcevitabloggers linkup!  I was frantically trying to finish a detailed review of my favourite book, only to find that other posts were on the topic of ‘favourite Italian recipe’. Mannaggia!  I had taken a screenshot of the list of topics, but a few of them were switched.

So…. my favourite recipe?  Hmmm.  That is almost like asking a mamma which one is her favourite child!  I love food and have too many faves to pick just one.  I think it is better if I write about your favourite recipe!  I had a look through the recipe category of my blog.  There are 14 recipe posts-half are desserts.  My favourite ingredients seem to be ricotta, limoncello, orange and olive oil! The most popular recipe post, by a massively huge margin, is Torta Caprese all’Arancia. I posted this recipe in honour of my 2015 Cannolo Award. 

Caprese (cah•PREH•seh) means ‘from Capri’ (CAP•ree) the beautiful island off the coast of Napoli.  I suppose caprese could also mean ‘goatlike’ since capra is goat?  We’ll stick with ‘from Capri’.

There are a few different stories about how Torta Caprese came to be.  The most likely is that it was invented by mistake in the 1920’s by a kitchen worker at an Austrian owned pensione on Capri.  He added mandorle tritate –ground almonds, instead of flour while trying to make something similar to an Austrian Sachertorte.  It was a big hit, and went on to be served at all of the hotels and tea rooms on Capri.

The basic recipe involves mixing melted butter and chocolate in a ‘bagno-maria’ with sugar and egg yolks, then adding whipped egg whites and ground almonds.  Liqueur, usually Strega, is added.  The cake has a hard thin shell and moist interior and the center tends to sink in a bit from the sides.

I recently tasted a yummy orange Torta Caprese, so I decided to try my own version.  After a bit of experimentation, and substituting Gran Marnier for Strega, I ended up with a very nice Torta Caprese all’ Arancia.  It is a 3 bowl recipe, so be prepared to wash them!

Read the rest of the original post Torta Caprese all’ Arancia to find the step-by-step recipe and find out what the Cannolo Award is all about.

This post is written as part of the monthly #dolcevitabloggers linkup, hosted by Jasmine of Questa Dolce Vita, Kelly of Italian at Heart and Kristie of Mamma Prada, the 7th -14th of every month. Hopefully next time I will prepare the correct topic!  You will have to wait until November to read about my favourite Italian book!

Here is me posing on my first visit to Capri when I was 16. Unfortunately I didn’t know about Torta Caprese at the time.

Ciao, Cristina

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