WHB # 52, First Anniversary:Verbena Rabbit

I do not know what the rest of the world think or feel about eating rabbits, but for Italians and French that’s quite normal. I know, they are cute, nice and so soft (when alive, of course), but they also have a very peculiar taste, beside being healthy, and I like it so much…
My father in law used to breed rabbits (to sell to butchers) and they are really cute when they are little puppies, and maybe all this post may look absolutely brutal, but when food consumption is rooted in tradition, I think it should not be questioned but rather taken as it is… But you can use chicken for this recipe! Though even little chicks are cute…
Anyway, I didn’t want to get political or anything, I just wanted to introduce my last experiment, inspired and made uniquely in celebration of Kalyn and her Weekend Herb Blogging anniversary.
I thought how I could use, besides desert, one of my favourite herb: lemon verbena. My father in law (the same of the rabbits) made me a little plant from his and since then we have it on our balcony. It is a perennial shrub, happy with a lot of sun and water, extremely easy to grow: you just need to give it water!
We normally use it for herbal tea: we cut a little branch and infuse it in hot water. Delicious and lemony! I tried to use it for marinade and it’s just perfect, giving a nice lemony scent…
If I can, this year I will try to dry the remaining leaves before fall begins (in Italy it is still quite hot this year: around 25 °C today!)…

Serves 4

1 rabbit, already gutted and cut in 8 pieces
Plenty of lemon verbena branches
Good quality extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Place the rabbit in a shallow dish greased with oil. Season it with salt and pepper and scatter over it lemon verbena. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
Pre-heat the oven at the highest temperature and cook the rabbit for 20 –30 minutes, brushing it often with lemon verbena leaves.
Serve hot with some steamed vegetables.

Mmmh, crispy!

Just a quick and simple appetizer for an informal dinner: hot smoked mini scamorze (scamozine) wrapped in crispy bacon.
Scamorza is an Italian cheese, either smoked or plain. It is made in the same way of mozzarella (both are stretched cow raw milk cheese), but has a dry and harder texture, not milky at all. You can substitute it with any firm cheese you like, but beware that it must have some kind of strong stucture, yet soft, to keep in shape while cooking under the grill.

Take a mini scamorza, or a thick rounded piece of smoked scamorza, wrap it tightly in a thin slice of bacon and cook it under the grill of your oven until the bacon is crispy. Serve immediately.

In Italian, please

I LOVE NOODLES!

This spicy, tangy, bittersweet noodles are just an experiment. One of my favourite noodles in Yakisoba, but in Italy is impossible to find a single Japanese restaurant able to make it. So, while I wait to eat them in Paris at the end of November, I have to substitute it with something.
Using sake, rice vinegar, lemon juice and soy sauce, this dish taste vaguely as the memory I have of the last Yakisoba I ate 2 years ago in Paris…

Serves 1

1 packet of udon
1 carrot
1 courgette
1 aubergine (eggplant)
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 cm piece of fresh root ginger, grated
1 tablespoon of sake
1 teaspoon of rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of sriracha (less if you want it milder)
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 lemon freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Sesame seeds to garnish

Wash and clean the courgette and the aubergine and cut them in think but short sticks. Peel the carrot and cut it like the other vegetables.
Heat in the wok the oil, add garlic and ginger, and after 2 minutes the vegetable in this order: carrot, courgette and only finally aubergine. Let them cook stirring constantly until softer, but still crunchy.
Stir in the sake, let it reduce, the add the noodles and the rest of the ingredients.
Let the noodles cook gently for 4-5 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally to coat them with the sauce.
Serve immediately, with a good sprinkle of sesame seeds.

In Italian, please

Making the Pantry

Every spring, summer and fall I stuff my pantry with lots of home made jams, marmalades and preserves.
Red onions jam is one of my favourite: of course is a savoury jam, not a sweet one you spread on bread first thing in the morning! You can taste it with meat, alone on bread, or as chutney.
Red onions are better than blonde ones not just for the colour, but also for their milder taste.
You can season it with any herb you like.
This recipe is from an Italian cuisine magazine, Il meglio di Sale&Pepe, Conserve dolci e salate, 2006.

For 3 250 ml jars

1 kg of red onions
800 g of caster sugar
2 bay leaves
3 small pieces of cinnamon
6 cloves
150 g of sultanas
250 ml of dry white wine
200 ml of white vinegar
Salt

Peel the onions and finely slice them. Put them in a large pan along with sugar, bay leaves, raisins, cinnamon, cloves and little salt. Let it stand for an hour, so all the flavours will combine and the sugar will liquidize.
Add vinegar and wine bring to the boiling point and cook gently for 1 hour, until you get a thick jam.
Once is cooked, store in sterilized jars, close them, turn upside down and let it coll.
Store in your pantry. It keeps for 8 months.

In Italian, please

The simplest entrée on earth

Peaches season is just going to end, so why don't take all their sweetness and make something simple yet good???
During winter you can replace them with pears, plums, or even apples.
What to say about Roquefort? I think is one of the best cheese in the world! I discovered it thank to my French husband: his family lives in a village in Aveyron, very near Roquefort, where the cheese is produced. In fact, he worked for a summer in one of the factories, during high school! For any information how beautiful is rural Aveyron, you can speak with Betty, An American in Aveyron (and I think one of the very few!)…
You can serve this salad in individual glasses (very hot in France at the moment) and it will enchant your guests!

Serves 4

2 medium peaches or nectarines
40 g of Roquefort
Mixed salad

For the vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Place your mixed salad in the glasses or in a bowl, if you prefer. Wash the peaches, halve them, throw the stones, and cut the flesh in small cubes (if using nectarines you can leave the skin on). Drop a few cubes over the salad. Crumble the Roquefort and arrange it over the peaches.
To make the vinaigrette, place all the ingredients in a jar, close it with its lid, and shake it until all the ingredients are combined.
Drizzle it over the salads and serve immediately.

In Italian, please

Lettera aperta ai lettori/commentatori/avventori/amici di questo blog

Carissimi,
come state?

Questa mia per informarvi che fra qualche giorno questo blog verrà pubblicato solo in inglese. Forse riuscirò a tradurre almeno le ricette su un altro blog, vi farò sapere, ma non do la certezza di aver il tempo necessario per fare un lavoro di queste dimensioni. Non sono mica super Cannella io!!! ;-)

Perché?

Forse perché, come mi additeranno in molti, sono sconvolgentemente snob. O un’arrampicatrice (AH! AH! AH!) o una che vuole fare chissà cosa imitando chissà chi… E forse sono tutto questo, ma per sicurezza chiederei più a chi mi conosce PERSONALMENTE che alle persone che mi giudicano solo dal mio blog.

Forse perché, come avrete capito, ho un po’ il dente avvelenato con la MICRO blogosfera italiana: sono stufa delle critiche gratuite da parte di tutti, siano essi blogger, aspiranti chef o critici affermati. In Italia non si fa altro che sputarsi addosso l’un l’altro e io non ne ho proprio voglia di passare minuti preziosi a comprendere con chi ce l’hanno Tizio o Caio e se, per caso, ce l'hanno pure con me (son fatta così, non riesco a fregarmene!)! Personalmente non ce l’ho con nessuno in particolare: conosco di persona solo pochi blogger (alcuni anche solo via mail) e sono delle persone squisite con le quali si è riusciti a istaurare un bel rapporto di amicizia… E questo mi basta.

Forse perché non mi diverto più a bloggare in un mondo troppo circoscritto: sembra un paesino di periferia (e datemi retta, ci sono cresciuta, è le somiglianze sono molteplici), dove tutti sanno tutto, ma non fanno nomi e cognomi (o pseudonimi), ma ne parlano e sparlano, sottovoce, appena ti giri… Avete presente i gruppetti fuori dalle chiese o dal panettiere? Ecco, così… Sì, sì, criticoni: ovvio che anch’io ho il mio gruppetto, ma sono AMICI, non compagni di pettegolezzo (anche se non lo disdegniamo, alle volte ;-)).

E forse solo perché voglio rispolverare il mio inglese scritto, e l’unico modo che ho è quello di scrivere a profusione su uno dei miei argomenti preferiti: food!!!

Potete tranquillamente continuare a commentare in qualsiasi lingua, se vi va: sarete sempre i benvenuti!

Con affetto

La Piperita
Il Francese (involontario spettarore e collaboratore di tutta questa sceneggiata!)

Confessions of a dangerous mind

Tra i 19 e i 24-25 anni sono stata vegetariana. Mi ricordo il giorno in cui l’ho deciso: vivevo ancora con i miei genitori e stavo cucinando un ragù per la sera. Su Rai 3 stavano trasmettendo un documentario su come vengono uccisi e macellati i maiali, cosa che non vi sto assolutamente a descrivere o spiegare… Fatto sta che la cosa mi sconvolse talmente tanto che da quella sera non riuscii più a mangiare un pezzo di carne. Certo, ovviamente essendo io la persona meno coerente del mondo, ogni tanto mangiavo qualche fetta di prosciutto o di salame, ma da quel giorno, e per anni, non più nemmeno comprato volontariamente un pezzo di carne.
A 21 anni ho conosciuto il Francese, che è realmente cittadino francese, in tutto e per tutto, pregi e difetti. I francesi sono carnivori! Non tanto quanto gli spagnoli, ma ci si avvicinano di molto. Per lui e la sua famiglia rappresentavo la stravaganza più totale! Forse è per quello che sono ancora convinti che gli italiani siano, come dire, “strani” (drôle): mangiano degli insani quantitativi di pasta (e non tagliano gli spaghetti!!!) e hanno pure dei vegetariani tra di loro! Fatto sta che a lungo andare ho ripreso a mangiare carne. E più è al sangue più mi piace!
Questa ricetta è giapponese (tratta da Sushi. Sapori e ricette, Barber Kimiko, Hiroki Takemura, Mondadori 2003) e oltre a essere una delle più semplici che io abbia mai provato, è anche una delle più gustose!

500 g di scamone a fette alte almeno 2 centimetri
100 ml di salsa di soia giapponese
100 ml di sakè
1 cucchiaio di olio

Scaldare l’olio in una padella antiaderente. Farvi colorire la carne 2 minuti per lato. Immergerla subito in una ciotola pena di acqua ghiacciata e lasciarvela per almeno 10 minuti.
In una ciotola mescolare la soia con il sakè.
Asciugare la carne e immergerla nella marinata. Lasciare riposare in frigorifero tutta la notte.
Il giorno seguente sgocciolarla, affettarla il più sottilmente possibile e servirla con del riso o dell’insalata.

Free muffin to the world!!!

Questi muffin sono strani, ma sono pur sempre muffin e a chi non piacciono i muffin???
La ricetta base è quella del libro de Le Cordon Bleu, Muffin, Könemann, 1998. Poi l’aggiunta della marmellata come cuore fondente viene da una ricetta per muffin-doughnut di Nigella Lawson. Essendo dei muffin al limone ho scelto la marmellata di arance. Ma si può sostituire con qualsiasi marmellata. Queste dosi riempiono una teglia da 12 per muffin dell’Ikea.

300 g di farina
1 bustina di lievito
125 g di zucchero
La scorza grattugiata di un limone
185 ml di latte
2 uova
110 g di burro fuso
Marmellata di arance

Accendere il forno a 210 °C.
Setacciare in una ciotola la farina e il lievito e aggiungere anche lo zucchero e la scorza del limone. In un’altra ciotola sbattere il latte con le uova e il burro fuso, aggiunger eil tutto alla ciotola con la farina e mescolare con un cucchiaio di legno senza esagerare: l’impasto deve essere granuloso. Mettere una cucchiaiata di impasto sul fondo di ogni stampino, aggiungere un cucchiaino di marmellata e coprire con una cucchiaiata di impasto.
Infornare per 15 minuti.

Easy peasy

Quando non so che farmi e tutto ciò di cui ho voglia è della semplice pasta gratinata, metto a bollire l’acqua, la salo, butto la pasta, la cuocio al dente, la condisco con un po’ di burro, Roquefort e pepe, la cospargo di parmigiano grattuggiato e la metto sotto il grill caldo del forno. (E quando non ho il Rocquefort ci metto qualsiasi formaggio!)
E poi la fotografo e la mangio… (non alle 8 e mezza del mattino, intendiamoci... Ieri...)
Ovvio che si può fare con qualsiasi formaggio, ma il Roquefort è così buono…

WHB #50, the Recap

Recap time!
First of all, many thanks to all the participants: I hope I will be able to answer your mail through the day!
Many thanks to Kalyn, who invented the Weekend Herb Blogging, and to Ilva too, who let me know about it!
So, now, Recap Piperita’s Style, or rather control freak!

Participants: 16, including myself.

Worldwide spread: see map.

Garden coverage: amazingly! Everybody wrote an entry about a different flora!!!

And now, the entries, in chronological order:

Ruth, from Once Upon a Feast, let herself inspired by some magazine and make two wonderful salads: : a real chic Endive & Fennel Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette, and an eastern inspired Chickpea & Tuna Salad/Pita Sandwich with Thaini Dressing: simply mouth-watering!

Chrispy get carroting around Experimentation of Taste with a comprehensive post about our orange friends carrots and makes gorgeous Raisin-Carrot bread.

Gattina let us know how to use and how to cook dry lotus leaves: once you try Steamed Rice in Lotus Leaves you will never go back to normal steamed rice!

Kalyn, our everlasting host from Kalyn’s Kitchen, makes a Spicy Cherry Tomato Sauce for Pasta that sounds just like Italian ones, with her homegrown cherry tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs.

Sher extended my culinary knowledge explain how to make sopas and how to garnish then. So next time they ask me “What did you eat?” I sure would say Sopas with Cilantro!

Anna, form Morsels&Musings, gets deep on biblical cuisine with a Lentil Potage, and, among with the wonderful biblical hints, she les us know lots of information about lentil itself, one of the oldest seeds ever eaten.

If you really have to Cook (almost) Anything at least Once, there is a long way ahead, and Haalo is going on wonderfully well! Using lemongrass and rare young ginger, she makes an astonishing Ginger and Lemongrass Cordial (gosh, there is still people making their own cordial: that’s truly amazing!) and give us many info about the two main ingredients.

The Chocolate lady, form Hiddish/English blog In Mol Araan show us her pink potatoes, making a comforting and delicious stew with lentils, Gigir Aloo.

Ulrike form Gemany show us how many edible berries she can found around, just growing wild: blackberries, elderberries, barberry, rowan berries, black chokeberries… It makes you run out of the kitchen looking for a wood nearby, and get lost searching wild berries, early chestnut and porcini…
Genie, our Inadvertent Gardener, makes Shortbread Times Four, baking four batches of salted shortbread with four different herbs: lavender, rosemary, basil and sage. She favourites sage, I would go for all of them!

Virginie, our Absolutely Green girl from Nantes, France, made Hungarian style gnocchi using paprika, and tells us about Vegeta, a Croatian spice mix with many secret ingredients!

The Real Epicurean Scott show us the purple Heather he saw (and picked) in the astonishing northern land of the North Yorkshire Moors, and makes tea and wine with it.

Christa, with Thai basil and (hot hot) japaleño peppers from her Calendula & Concrete garden, makes a wonderful Spicy Kitchen and Basil Strir-Fry, very (very, very, very, very, very…) spicy!

Katerina shows us her Daily Adventures in Cooking making Focaccia Bagels with rosemary, and they just look beautiful and yummy!

The Serendipitous Chef David uses delicious and super tasty quince to make Quince Tarte-Tatin. He even use agava nectar instead of sugar to make pastry: that’s interesting! I wish I could find agava nectar in Italy and give it a try!

And that’s all folks! Wonderful recipes and knowledge shared trough the world!!! You can still find my entry below...
Next week head to Kalyn for the recap of Week-end Herb Blogging 51