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Golden alternatives: Dorette di riso

Olivia — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:11:55 +0000

It’s that time of year again when you start taking out your cookbooks, look up recipes on the internet and prepare menus for Christmas events. I love this task! Yet sometimes the clock’s evil hand goes fast and leaves us short of time so it is always wise to have a couple of easy recipes, without compromising quality.

Photo by Clint Scerri Harkins (http://www.scerriharkins.com/)

As my brother introduced me to the products of Riseria Ferron I immediately recognized a new level of quality – that resulting from the use of rice flour. Having said that, it is not only the rice flour per se but also the way it is milled that contributes to its classification as a high quality product. The old mill and machinery which is used at Riseria Ferron to mill rice and rice flour guarantees a natural and delicate process to pound rice.

Following various experiments this rice flour was transformed by Gabriele Ferron into these delicate and crunchy, bite-size bruschette called Dorette di riso. The rice flour, combined with wheat flour, makes them lighter and easily digestible and they can be used in the kitchen in a multitude of ways. Whether you are looking for an amuse-bouche, hors d’oevures, finger food or accompaniments to platters the dorette di riso are my recommendation, especially if you’re tight with time.

Photo by Clint Scerri Harkins (http://www.scerriharkins.com/)

How do you serve them? Well, I wouldn’t want to limit your culinary fantasies by suggesting one recipe but here are some ideas:

simply dressed with a fruity, intense extra virgin olive oil
spread with an artichoke pate
topped with sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella and basil
as an accompaniment to black olive dip
covered with white fig jam and scattered with parmesan shavings

These golden bruschette will unmistakably impress your guests!

I Primi D’Italia – part 2

Olivia — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:19:58 +0000

Our next itinerary at the festival took us through the stalls wherein with €7.50 we could indulge in a degustation menu. There were many stalls representing different Italian regions including:

Rice from Piemonte
Typical Sardinian recipes
Soups and delicacies from Umbria
Taste of Tuscany
Tartufo
Rice & Venetian products
Ravioli & Stringozzi

The list continues to the extent that we did not manage to taste the menus from all the regions present. Will take you through the menus of the stalls we visited! Warning: As you look at the photos you might start salivating for food… so keep something handy to munch on!

Me & Dad at the Ravioli & Stringozzi stand

Our first experience was at the Ravioli & Stringozzi village. These degustation menus were organised in these local establishments known as ’taverne’, medieval style buildings where locals can eat and drink. Organisers of this festival put together several wooden tables and benches and ticket holder could go in and be served the degustation menu of the day.

Typical Taverna at Foligno

That evening the menu was fantastically made up from:

Ravioli filled with buffalo ricotta served with pesto and cherry tomatoes

Ravioli di bufala

Taglioini with guanciale and broad beans

Tagliolini Guanciale e Fave

Chicche di patate (a small version of the gnocchi di patate) with gorgonzola cheese and courgettes

Chicchi Gorgonzola

Stale bread, sultanas and cinammon pudding

Bread Pudding

Being one of the first clients, we were complimented also with deep-fried ricotta ravioli served with icing sugar. With our stomachs full to the brim we made our way to the cafe` in the piazza to have a shot of espresso and walked lazily to the hotel. That night we slept on our sides since as we tried to lie face down our stomach could not take the pressure

Fresh Basil

Olivia — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 07:33:22 +0000

You require: soil and some good quality basil plants or seeds and here is the result of home grown basil,

Fresh basil

This fresh Summer herb can provide endless taste opportunites to various dishes. Try the traditional basil pesto made with your own freshly grown basil leaves! Basil is also a favourite addition to tomato based dishes. Throw in some of it in salads to spice the greens with an aromatic flavour. The list of ideas can go on and on… just remember one thing: avoid cutting or chopping basil with knives, tear it with your fingers - in this way it will retain its aroma. As for the alcohol lovers, why don’t you try the basilcello… you know the limoncello? Well basilcello is an alcoholic liqueur made from fresh basil leaves instead of lemon rind. You just need to leave 15-20 clean basil leaves to soak in 300ml alcohol for around a month, shaking the jar daily for a couple of minutes. After this process is done, take 300gr sugar and dissolve it in 300ml boiling water. Leave to cool, then add the alcohol mixture and leave to rest for 24 hours. You can then filter the liquid and store it into transparent serving bottles. Keep in a cool and dark place for a month, then freeze and taste!

Full days treat!

Olivia — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:08:04 +0000

After enjoying the privilege of working 4 weeks on reduced hours it was quite a shock to start spending 8 hours again sitting at our desks, at least it always is for me! Hence, someone had to spice up our morale! My fellow colleague and avid fan of Eatmania decided to treat us with a pear & ricotta cheesecake. I must say that the cheesecake was impressively light and tasty! Melanie, our benefactor, is very cautious on healthy eating therefore she formed up her recipe paying attention to the sugar! The cheesecake, made up of ricotta and fresh cream was sweetened with icing sugar, this made the filling smoother and lighter. The base was composed of crushed biscuits and butter making the cheesecake crunchy. And finally, the topping consisted of lightly boiled pears in cinnamon and brown sugar, then sprinkled with icing sugar and some chocolate shavings. The result was light and very satisfying. Pity the dish was small since I could have eaten a large creamy portion For next time Melanie, please do use a wider dish – thank you.

Pear & Ricotta Cheescake

Surplus of Figs

Olivia — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:19:17 +0000

Figs & More

Throughout this week we had a surplus supply of figs and mum decided to prepare some jams and chutneys. There are many ways to mess with figs in the kitchen… you just need to have some free time and creativity! Mum tried this lovely bread with bits and pieces of figs which is a delicious accompaniment to salty cheeses like pecorino, ragusano, parmesan etc. It’s easy to do… just add pieces of figs to the pizza/bread dough and bake.

Pasta, Pasta, Pasta!

Olivia — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:54:14 +0000

Home Made Fettucine

Finally I’ve got a pasta machine! Yeah!! The good news is that it’s not the basic machine but it also has an electronic motor attached – which means you just need to press a button so that it rolls the pasta – AND it includes the attachment to do long pasta shapes such as tagliatelle, spaghetti, fettucine etc. I was over the moon this morning when my aunt brought it over after arriving from Italy! As soon as I saw it I could not resist for long so I rolled up my sleeves and tried it out! So here they are my home made fettucine! We served them with some basil pesto, green beans and potato – a typical recipe from Genova. Rest assured that you will be seeing many more home made pasta recipes… there’s nothing like fresh home made egg pasta!

Just in case you want to try the pasta dough – for 1 kg pasta I used 600gr flour and 6 eggs.