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Recipes Index
Traditional Chinese Rice
Traditional Japanese Rice (sushi)
Parmigiano Cheese Rice
Pumpkin Risotto
Pumpkin and Potatoes Soup or Cream
Pumpkin Ravioli
SpinacoPita (spinach savoury pie) or Spanacopita or Spanakopita, greek: Σπανακι-πιτα
Ham and Mushrooms savoury pie
Pumpkin savoury pie
Gratinated Pumpkin
Boiled potatoes
Quiche - savoury pie with courgette
Quiche Lorraine - savoury pie with bacon
Quiche - savoury pie with taleggio cheese and mushrooms
Bread with Low yeast content
Focaccia (white Pizza, bun) with Low yeast content
Bread with natural yeast (from Daniela)
Bread with yeast dough (from Tilde)
Focaccia (white Pizza, bun) with natural yeast
Must Bread with natural yeast
Barley Azyme Bread (yeast-less)
Potato Cheese Scones - traditional Scottish bread
Potato Cheese Pie
Omelet with potatoes
Omelettes with ricotta cheese
Raviggiolo Cheese
Yogurt or yogourt or yoghurt
Ovened Salmon
Greek Yogurt Cream (sugarfree cake !)
Cheese Cake
Chocolate chips Muffins
Triple chocolate Muffins
Lemon (crostata) Pie
grandmother Pie
Apple (crostata) Pie
Apple Strudel - ApfelStrudel
Wild Berries Pie
Roses Pie with natural yeast
(Stale) Bread Cake
Buckwheat Pie - Schwarzplententorte - Torte de Poia (ladin)
Spelt Pie
Walnut and Chocolate Pie
Chocolate and Walnut Pie
Ricotta cheese cake
Apple Fries
Ricotta cheese and cocoa cream
Pain d'Epice - Pain d'Epices - Spiced Bread - GingerBread
Hot Cross Buns
WeihNachtsTorte - Christmas pie (sugarfree !)
Tenerina Cake
Choco Puff Rice bars
Puff Rice bars 'from Mars'
Pasticcera cream
Cocoa pasticcera cream
TiramiSu lite
Palacinke - Palačinke - Palatschinken - Crêpes
Kaiserschmarren
Buckwheat Cookies
Tea Lemonade
Vin brulé - Mulled wine
Apfelschorle (sparkling apple juice drink)
Lattella (milk and fruit juice drink)
Ice-creamed barley drink

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Cooking related links
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(italian) cosacucino.it: la ricetta del giorno, cerca una ricetta in base agli ingredienti, ...
(italian) paginainizio.com	Weights and measures converter (by BBC)
Book: "Tutti a tavola, le ricette della provincia pesarese", author: "Valentino Valentini"; printed by Grapho5 Fano; October 2004 Recipes traditional collection from Pesaro and interland. Some are really stranger. For example: toast with sardine, toast with folpetto's 'merdoline', toasts with fishing-frog's liver, ... NOTE: Folpetto is a small cuttlefish and 'merdolina' stands for the envelope that holds interior and eggs. Do not make the BIG mistake to get fooled by the un-desirable names, it would be an invaluable error !.

Recipes updated 2010-01-22 23:56:05.

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Traditional Chinese Rice

Category: kitchen - entries
Traditional chinese Rice, recipe "stealed" from a chinese cook.
Particularity quick and easy preparation.
Rice retains all the nutritive elements that are normally lost in cooking water in our western way of cooking. Very similar to japanese rice.

Ingredients:
rice
water
Note: water has to be double quantity (in volume) related to rice;
one cup of rice, 2 cups of water.
Note: no salt is needed.

Preparation:
Put rice and water into a pot. Rice goes down, use a narrow pot in a way that water stands 1 inch over rice.
Start cooking at high temp. until water start boiling.
Melt well then lower heat at the minimum possible and cover the pot.
After about 5-10 minutes melt again and cover.
After other 5-10 minutes rice has been cooked.
Total cooking time is 15-25 minutes; can be increased/reduced by increasing/reducing the amount of water.

Once cooked, you will see no more water, this means that rice contains all the nourishing elements normally water down in cooking water: grains will not be well separated as in our western cooking but they taste good and are cooked uniformely.
Cooking time can change due to rice type, desired cooking level, pot, heat intensity.

You can eat as is as a bread substitute or fried to make "Cantonese rice" or dressed as you like.

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Traditional Japanese Rice (sushi)

Category: kitchen - entries
Traditional Japanese Rice, particularly suited for sushi.
Particularity quick and easy preparation.
Rice retains all the nutritive elements that are normally lost in cooking water in our western way of cooking. Very similar to chinese rice.

Ingredients:
rice
water
salt
Note: for each rice cup add one cup and half of water.

Preparation:
Put rice and water into a pot, add a bit of salt and melt.
Start cooking at high temp. until water start boiling.
Cover the pot, lower heat keeping in a shimmer state. Hold until water has been completely absorbed (usually 15 minutes).
Turn off the heat leave to rest (covered) 10 minutes long.

You will see no more water, this means that rice contains all the nourishing elements normally water down in cooking water: grains will not be well separated as in our western cooking but they taste good and are cooked uniformely.
Cooking time can change due to rice type, desired cooking level, pot, heat intensity.

You can eat as is as a bread substitute or you can add sesame seeds. This is the base for making sushi.
Japaneses love italian rice and tuna fish from Adriatic see.

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Parmigiano Cheese Rice

Category: kitchen - entries

Ingredients:
chinese rice (recipe here)
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Preparation:
Prepare chinese rice.
Pour on the dish and immediately add Parmigiano Reggiano cheese chips.
Better using matured cheese with decise flavour becouse rice has been cooked without salt.
If you like, can add a mature cheeses mix.
Serve warm.

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Pumpkin Risotto

Category: kitchen - entries

Ingredients:
1/2 onion
250-300 gr pumpkin
4 handful rice
1/2 glass white whine
1 lt broth
1 handful parmigiano cheese
1 butter nut
2 spoons olive oil

Preparation:
In a high pot put onion (finely cut), oil and let cook until becomes 'blond'.
Add rice and toast it (2-3 minutes).
Add wine (you will get some vapour due to temperature difference).
Finely slice pumpkin and mix well.
Gradually add broth while mixing.
Always continue mixing until cooked (15-20 minutes).
Switch of fire then add butter and cheese. Wisk (mix) again for 5 minutes long.
Serve warm.

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Pumpkin and Potatoes Soup or Cream

Category: kitchen - entrées
Recipe to make a pumpkin soup (liquid) or cream.

Ingredients:
2 lt (about) water
400 gr potatoes
250-300 gr pumpkin
dose for 1 water liter of monosodic glutammate preparation for soups
1 garlic clove
2 spoons olive oil
1 bit of salt

Preparation:
Put in a pot oil, garlic, pumpkin (cut in small pieces) and potatoes (cut in small pieces). Put on fire (for 2-3 minutes) until start changing colour. Add glutammate and warm water until all the ingredients are covered up.
Keep on fire for 30 minutes. Remove from fire and mix using an immersion blender. Soup is now ready. If you like a cream, keep cooking for a while. At end add some salt as you like.
Serve with bread crouton and olive oil as you like.
NOTE: having true broth at your disposal, eliminate monosodic glutammate and reduce water (1 lt broth and 1 lt water).
Pumpkin and Potato soup preparation

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Pumpkin Ravioli

Category: kitchen - entrées
It's a tipical dish from Emilia-Romagna (Italy). This is the Romagna version: moving even only a few Km/miles to Emilia filling composition greatly changes.
It's divided in pasta preparation and filling preparation.
For 4 persons.

Ingredients for pasta:
4 eggs
400 gr wheat flour

Pasta preparation:
Mix flour and egg (without dividing yolk and white). Make a dough, leave to rest for 30 minutes serrounded by a plastic film, then spread as thin as possible. Prepare 2 foils.

Ingredients for filling:
1 leek (onion)
300 gr yellow pumpkin pulp
250 gr ricotta cheese possibly mixed (from both sheep and cow)
1 handful plenty of grated parmigiano cheese
4 olive oil spoons
1 a bit of salt and pepper as you like

Filling preparation:
Fry in oil the leek cut thin, add pumpkin cut into pieces.
Cook until it softens. Salt and crush everything until becomes mashed. Mix with ricotta and parmigiano cheese.

Ravioli preparation :
Put a teaspoon of filling on dough-foil every 5 cm.
Cover with the 2nd dough-foil then slice ravioli. At end close them by hand 1 by 1.

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SpinacoPita (spinach savoury pie) or Spanacopita or Spanakopita, greek: Σπανακι-πιτα

Category: kitchen - savoury pies
Greek savoury pie (Wikipedia), 'catched' on SatTv and 'arranged' by Tilde.
Preparation: 45 minutes. Success guaranteed.
In internet you can find other recipes but this very near to the original greek one: very simple and with only few ingredients, as shown by a greek woman on Tv.

Ingredients:
2 blisters of (savoury) 'pasta sfoglia' ready made spread;
every blister (230 gr. approxim.) has a dish of 32 cm diameter
(similar to phyllo pastry)
1 Kg of freezed Spinach (see notes)
250 gr of Ricotta cheese (see notes)
250 gr. of Feta cheese (see notes)
100 gr of parmigiano/grana cheese flakes (see notes)
1 egg
Spinacopita ingredients

Notes: to be succesful 3 attentions are required.

The Feta cheese has a savoury and strong taste. It can not be absolutely be replaced; the cake's taste mainly depends on this, as the other ingredients (spinach and ricotta cheese) are much delicate.
The other cheeses should not be changed for the same reason.
If parmigiano or grana cheese is not available you can use parmesan.
If ricotta cheese is not available you can use cottage cheese instead.
Spinach MUST be VERY WELL DRAINED or the pita will not result cooked as expected, with the risk of continued water drops even after ovened; you can press out any liquid with the back of a spoon (see photo). If you plan to use fresh spinach this problem is even emphatized. That's why freezed spinaches are easier/preferred.
The pot you will use for baking must be low and wide (32 cm wide is ok), or you get the cake uncooked in the middle. This step is in relationship with the previous one.

Preparation:
Cook spinach in aboundant salted water or steam. In the meantime melt, in a pot:
ricotta cheese, parmigiano cheese, a half of Feta cheese and the egg until you get a cream.
Dry spinach VERY WELL (did you read the NOTES ?) and add to the cream.
Put an oven paper on the pot and spread on it the 'pasta sfoglia' disc.
Uniformly distribute the paste leaving some space around the border.
Close the cake by spreading on the other 'pasta sfoglia' disc. Push well the borders to close.
Mince and sprinkle the remaining Feta cheese on the cake.
Preparation

Baking: 180°C (350°F) in already warmed up oven for 25-30 minutes.
Suggestions:
Wait until cooled before removing from the pot.
Best served after 4+ hours from cooking (warmed up).

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Ham and Mushrooms savoury pie

Category: kitchen - savoury pies
Medium speed prepation: 1 hour.
For 4 persons.

Ingredients:
2 blisters of (savoury) 'pasta sfoglia' ready made spread;
every blister (230 gr. approxim.) has a dish of 32 cm diameter
(similar to phyllo pastry)
200 gr (or more) sliced boiled ham
500 gr. "champignon" mushrooms
400 gr. mozzarella cheese for pizza
onion, oregano, salt, white wine, oil

Preparation:
Clean and slice mushrooms. Cook in a pan adding an onion slice, 2-3 ilove oil spoons, salt and oregano as you like. Add some wine: give time it to smoke it. Remove onion. This mushroom cooking is named as "funghi trifolati".
Spread on the pan 'pasta sfoglia' disc.
Put on it ham slices.
Put on them mozzarella cheese slices.
Put again on it mushrooms "funghi trifolati".
Cover with the other 'pasta sfoglia' disc.
Cook for 30 minutes at 200°C in already warmed-up oven.
Best served after 4+ hours from cooking (warmed up).
Pie without final cover

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Pumpkin savoury pie

Category: kitchen - savoury pies
Medium speed preparation: 1 hour.
For 4 persons.

Ingredients for base:
250 gr wheat flour
100 gr butter
1 egg
100 ml water
a bit of salt
herbs: rosemary, sage, chive

Ingredients for filling:
300 gr jellow pumpking pulp
1 egg
100 gr grated parmigiano cheese
100 gr provolone piccante cheese sliced in small pieces
100 gr seasoned ricotta cheese sliced in small pieces
a bit of salt
spices: nutmeg and pepper

Preparation for base:
Start with filling preparation.
Shake egg with water then add melted butter, salt, herbs and flour.
Work mixture until you get an elastic dough.
Wrap it up with transparent plastic film and put it apart in a cool place for 30 minutes.

Preparation for filling:
Wrap pumpkin in aluminium film and oven at 180°C for 60 minutes. In the meantime prepare base and cheeses. Stretch the main part of dough in a pan prepared with cookin paper. Amalgamate well cheeses, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg with pumpkin pulp having removed skin and accurately crumbled. Pour filling on base. Make some stripes with the remaining filling. Form a sort of grid un filling.
Oven at 200°C for 30-40 minutes.
Best warmed-up after 4 or more hours from preparation.
filling preparation

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Gratinated Pumpkin

Category: kitchen - savoury pies
Very simple recipe that requires attention for half an hour.
For 4 persons.
Ingredients:
300 gr pumpkin
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preparation:
Slice some stripes and cook on grill for 30 minutes.
At end add salt pepper and olive oil as you like.

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Boiled potatoes

Category: kitchen - side dishes
Very easy recipe but requires near one hour of attention.

Ingredients:
yellow potatoes

Preparation:
Put whole potatoes (do not peel) in a pot; add cold water until entirely covered. Do not add salt not anything else.
Put on the fire while keeping the lid closed. When water starts boiling set fire to keep light boiling. Keep in thios state for 30-40 minutes. To understand when they are cooked, stick the biggest one: if the sting enters without problems potatoes are cooked.
Switch off and wait until temperature drops.
Slice and add salt, olive oil and parsley.
If you have first quality potatoes, possibly bio, you can eat without dressing.

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Quiche - savoury pie with courgette

Category: kitchen - savoury pies
Tipical french savoury pie (see WikiPedia).
Preparation time: 1 hour. Guaranteed success.
For 4 persons.
In this site you can find Quiche Lorraine (the most famous one) and cheese and mushrooms too.

Ingredients:
200 gr (7 oz) brisée pastry or phyllo pastry ready to be used (1 blister);
1 courgette
3 eggs
2 dl (7 fl oz) crème quiche or cream
20 - 100 gr (1 - 3 oz) emmenthal cheese
6 pendolini tomatoes (small sized tomatoes)

Preparation:
Parboil courgette.
Uniformly distribute pastry leaving some space around the border because the content is near liquid (see photo).
Slice courgette and spread on the pastry.
Stroke eggs, add crème quiche and emulsion.
Add cheese cut in light slices.
Put on tomatoes cut in 2 halves.
Add salt and pepper as you wish.
Cook in an already warmed-up oven at 180°C for 40 minutes.
Best served after 4+ hours from cooking (warmed up).
Note: The ingredients are near liquid so pay attention to make high bound with pastry and when you move to oven. A trick is to put the put in or very near oven and then fill-up with the mix.

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Quiche Lorraine - savoury pie with bacon

Category: kitchen - savoury pies
Tipical french savoury pie (see WikiPedia).
Preparation time: 1 hour. Guaranteed success.
For 4 persons.
In this site you can find Quiche courgette and Quiche cheese and mushrooms too.

Ingredients:
200 gr (7 oz) brisée pastry or phyllo pastry ready to be used (1 blister);
100 gr (3 oz) bacon
3 eggs
2 dl (7 fl oz) crème quiche or cream
20 - 100 gr (1 - 3 oz) emmenthal cheese
6 pendolini tomatoes (small sized tomatoes)

Preparation:
Uniformly distribute pastry on the pot (30 cm diameter) leaving some space around the border because the content is near liquid (see photo).
Cut bacon in small cubes then warmup (do not use oil, it's own fats are enought). When goldened remove the fats and mix to the other ingredients.
Stroke eggs, add crème quiche and emulsion.
Add cheese cut in light slices.
Put on tomatoes cut in 2 halves.
Add salt and pepper as you wish.
Cook in an already warmed-up oven at 180°C for 40 minutes.
Best served after 4+ hours from cooking (after warming it up).
Note: The ingredients are near liquid so pay attention to make high bound with pastry and when you move to oven. A trick is to put the put in or very near oven and then fill-up with the mix.

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Quiche - savoury pie with taleggio cheese and mushrooms

Category: kitchen - savoury pies
Tipical french savoury pie (see WikiPedia).
Preparation time: 1 hour. Guaranteed success.
For 4 persons.
In this site you can find Quiche Lorraine (the most famous one) and Quiche courgette too.

Ingredients:
200 gr (7 oz) brisée pastry or phyllo pastry ready to be used (1 blister);
3 eggs
200 gr (7 oz) taleggio cheese
300 gr (10 1/2 oz) champignon type mushrooms

Preparation:
Cook mushrooms "trifolated", without garlic or the taleggio cheese taste will be covered.
Uniformly distribute pastry leaving some space around the border because the content is near liquid (see photo).
Cut mushrooms and spread on the pastry.
Stroke eggs, and add to quiche.
Add cheese cut in light slices.
Add salt and pepper as you wish.
Cook in an already warmed-up oven at 180°C for 40 minutes.
Best served after 4+ hours from cooking (warmed up).
Note: The ingredients are near liquid so pay attention to make high bound with pastry and when you move to oven. A trick is to put the put in or very near oven and then fill-up with the mix.

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Bread with Low yeast content

Category: kitchen - bread
italian words: Lievitino = Biga
Important information about leaven, click here.

This recipe developes in 2 dinstinct parts: 'yeast leavens' and preparation of the bread.
Ingredients for 'yeast leavens' (step 1):
(this step is quite the same for bread, pizza and focaccia)
300 gr (10 1/2 oz.) manitoba wheat flour
3 gr (0.1 oz.) of fresh yeast
300 gr (10 1/2 oz.) not chlorinated water

Preparation:
Pour ingredients very well (dissolve yeast in water then add flour) and leave to rise in a bowl covered with a cloth for at least 15 hours long.
Usually volume doubles. Leaven must happen in a dry and warm place.
Variation: by doubling yeast you reduce the risk of bad leaven and you shorten the time to 12 hours long.
Note: you can add the tip of a teaspoon of sugar to water, just to easy leaven.

Ingredients for bread (step 2):
250 gr (8 3/4 oz.) of wheat flour
1 teaspoon of salt
2 olive oil spoons

Preparation:
Pour ingredients and strongly melt for 10-15 minutes.
Leave to rise (in the same dry and warm place) in a bowl covered (with a cloth) for 2 to 4 hours long.
Oven at 180°C (350°F) for 45 minutes in an already warmed-up oven.

Note: who loves low crust bread can make the last rise directly in oven (switched off and at ambient temperature) then switch it on setting at 180°C(350°F) for 45 minutes. This trick is particularly effective with electric ovens where you don't need to open to switch it on and where the temperature quickly rises.
Note: strongly melting the paste is to better oxigen it, thus increasing the comburent for rising. Furthermore it has the pleasant side effect of massaging handbreadths. We can assure you this is an anti-stress and pleasant occupation.
A strange behaviour we noticed is that if you are angry, paste does not make a good rise.

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Focaccia (white Pizza, bun) with Low yeast content

Category: kitchen - bread
Source of inspiration: internet, the book "Pane e roba dolce" author Sorelle Simili, Tilde.
italian words: Lievitino = Biga
Important information about leaven, click here.

This recipe developes in 2 dinstinct parts: 'yeast leavens' and preparation of focaccia.
Ingredients for 'yeast leavens' (step 1):
(this step is quite the same for bread, pizza and focaccia)
300 gr (11 oz.) manitoba wheat flour
3 gr (0.1 oz.) of fresh yeast
300 gr (11 oz.) not chlorinated water

Preparation:
Pour ingredients very well (dissolve yeast in water then add flour) and leave to rise in a bowl covered (with a cloth) for at least 15 hours long.
Usually volume increases 3 - 4 times. Leaven must happen in a dry and warm place.
Variation: by doubling yeast you reduce the risk of bad leaven and you shorten the time to 12 hours long.

Ingredients for focaccia (step 2):
200 gr (7 oz.) of wheat flour
200 gr (7 oz.) not chlorinated water
2 teaspoon of salt
200 cc of olive oil

Preparation:
Pour ingredients and strongly melt for 10-15 minutes.
Leave to rise (in the same dry and warm place) in a bowl covered (with a cloth) for 2 to 4 hours long.
Uniformly distribute the paste in 2 bowls (with 800 gr of flour you get 2).
Add olive oil and rosemary; if you like add salt.
Leave again to rise the bolws covered (with a cloth) for half an hour in the same dry and warm place.
Oven at 200°C (400°F) for 25-30 minutes.
Note: strongly melting the paste is to better ogigen it, thus increasing the comburent for rising. Furthermore it has the pleasant side effect of massaging handbreadths. We can assure you this is an anti-stress and pleasant occupation.
A strange behaviour we noticed is that if you are angry, paste does not make a good rise.


a)	b)	c)	d)

a) end of step 1 (after 15 hours of leaven)
b) step 2, after having added ingredients
c) step 2, after further 3 hours leaven
d) step 2, ready for last 1/2 hour leaven

Serve warm with crescenza cheese.
This recipe is similar to "focaccia di Recco". Recco is a town in Liguria, Italy.

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Bread with natural yeast (from Daniela)

Bread with yeast dough just cooked, detail

Category: kitchen - bread
Yeast dough = Mother dough = natural leaven
Important information about leaven, click here.

Recipe is divided in 4 steps: the first 3 are to "renew" and "revive" yeast dough, to give a strong boost to fourth leaven. If you skip the first steps (that do not require a big effort) the final result is not guaranteed.
You will get bread in few less than 24 hours, you are suggested to respect the reported timings in order to guarantee the night rest !. Remember to read all the notes at end before starting.
Ingredients:
wheat flour (normal, semi-whole or whole, better if bio)
water (better if non chlorinate)
salt
a small yeast dough ball, big like a nut (you can get it from a g.a.s. friend).
See below for the quantities.

Preparation Step 1:
Suggested day time: 1:00 pm.
Melt the yeast dough nut with some warm water (until you get a liquid mixture).
Add some flour and melt until mixture detachs from the cup borders.
Leave the mixture to rest for some hours (3 or 4). During this time the dough usually doubles the volume.

Preparation Step 2:
Suggested day time to start this step: 6:00 pm.
Work again the dough and repeat previous operations by adding some warm water and some flour. In this step you have to get a small ball soft enough to be hand workable. Weight the ball you obtained, then leave to rest in a can for some hour long (4 or 5). The dough should double the volume.

Preparation Step 3:
Suggested day time to start this step: 11:00 pm.
Now we need to weight flour and water: we need to know how much bread we want to get in order to compute the correct amount, by respecting a proportion, between yeast dough, flour and water. You can take advantage of the table below. This rate is important because if you put too much yeast dough you will get an acidulous bread.
Let's suppose we want to get a 2 Kg (70 oz) bread. We need 500 gr (17 1/2 oz) yeast dough (i.e. a quarter of the final weight). Let's suppose we already have 100 gr (3 1/2 oz) yeast dough. We need to increase yeast by 350 gr (12 1/4 oz); we will add 160 gr (5 1/2 oz) water and 160 gr (5 1/2 oz) + 80 gr (2 3/4 oz) = 240 gr (8 1/2 oz) flour (a simple computation: flour = water + water / 2) (100 gr yeast dough + 160 gr water + 240 gr flour = 500 gr final mixture) (in oz: 3 1/2 yeast dough + 5 1/2 water + 8 1/2 flour = 17 1/2 final mixture).
This mixture must rest for a minimum 6 to a maximum 8 hours long (or it will become too acidulous) always in a place far from air flow, covered with a cloth and helt in a high and narrow can.

Preparation Step 4 (final leaven):
Suggested day time to start this step: 7:00 am.
Get the yeast dough: 500 gr (17 1/2 oz) in previous example. Add the same proportion of water and flour as described in step 3 (see table below) and salt (to be melt in water). I.e. you have to add, to get 2 Kg (70 oz) of dough, 1 1/2 Kg (53 oz) water and flour in the following proportions: 600 gr (21 1/4 oz) warm water where 20 gr (3/4 oz) salt have melted (salt is 1% of the final weight) and 900 gr (31 3/4 oz) flour.
Now the dought is still soft but workable by hand. Let it rest for 40 - 60 minutes then work again shortly. Shape one or more loaf(s) and leave to rest for at least 2 hours long.

Before you oven make one or more clipping (a cross is ok) with a knife to avoid irregular breaks during cooking.
Suggested day time to start this step: 10:00 am.
Cook in an already warmed up oven at 200°C (390°F) for the first 10 minutes then 180°C (350°F) for the remaining 40 or 50 minutes. Do not open oven door in the first cooking minutes. Depending on how crusted you like it, change temperature and time.

Suggested day time to eat bread: after 11:00 am.
Obviously variatiosn are welcome: from photos you can see some seeds added and whole wheat flour has been used.
Note: yeast dough suffer draught, warm and cold. Must not be ermetically closed, but covered with a cotton cloth.
A glass or a cup is good for the first two steps, narrow and high pots for others, in proportion to the dough amount. It's important the can to be narrow and high, because leaven works better if dough grows vertically.
Note: remember to spare some yeast dought as big as a nut to make next bread. You can holt it in the refrigerator fo 7 up to 10 days in a not hermetically closed can.
Note: all of the reported steps are required to renew yeast dough and give a higher impulse to last leaven beacuse dough is alive and yeast works for us. To create dough yeast from scratch the procedure is much longer. The first steps do not require much work but if you skip, the result can not be guaranteed.
Note: regarding water there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
1st. Add warm water is not correct: what really matter is dough temperature: it should be 27-28°C (80-82 °F) while working it. If dough is too much warm the risk is to let amides interfere with gluten or worst to kill ferments, if too cold leaven process gets stopped.
Add cold water if dough is too warm or add warmer water if dough is too cold. Example: external temperature 40 °C (100 °F), add icing water !.
Can use a thermometer or simply put a finger in dough and feel.
2nd. Chlorine interferes with leaven, use mineral water or leave tap water to rest for some hours. Best would be to use source water.
Note: here is a table that helps evaluating ingredients amount for steps 3 and 4:

Proportion between ingredients
resulting dough (101%-1%)	yeast dough (25%)	water (30%)	flour (45%)	salt [*] (1%)
100 gr.	25 gr.	30 gr.	45 gr.	1 gr.
250 gr.	60 gr.	75 gr.	115 gr.	2,5 gr.
500 gr.	125 gr.	150 gr.	225 gr.	5 gr.
1000 gr.	250 gr.	300 gr.	450 gr.	10 gr.
2000 gr.	500 gr.	600 gr.	900 gr.	20 gr.

[*]: in step 4 ONLY salt is added (1% of final bread weight). Melt it in water.
Remember to respect ratios because too much yeast dough makes bread acidulous.
(101%-1%) is 100%, indicating that ratios ar not to be intended "mathematically", you have a 10% tolerance.
Note: this table is a quick summary of all the process, clock times are only a suggestion:

Summary of process
step	start time 24 h	description	leave rest for	result
1	13	water and flour addicted to dough	3 or 4 hours	dough doubles
2	18	water and flour addicted to dough. Weight it.	4 or 5 hours	dough doubles
3	23	dough addiction by weighting amounts (25%)	6 or 8 hours	dough doubles+ and gets soft
4	7	bread dough preparation, weight amounts (75%)	1 + 2 hours	1st leav. dough grows a bit 2st leaven dought doubles
-	10	cooking: adapt time and temp. to your tastes	50' .. 60'	bread is ready

Note: obviously, the ingredients quality has a main role. Best is "fresh" bio flour and from a known source; water too is better if oligo-mineral or possibly source water is used.

It seems complicated but satisfaction is great and when you get involved it gets simple. And you can always ask for a help from some g.a.s. friend with some experience.
You can contact Daniela by emailing her: just click here.

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Bread with yeast dough (from Tilde)

Category: kitchen - bread
This recipe is divided in 2 steps: first one to "activate" yeast, second one to make the bread. With this recipe you will be able to make 1 Kg (2 lb) bread.
It's important to carefully read all (numerous) the notes that reveal all the tricks needed to get a good result: this recipe is not for beginners.
There's a similar recipe to make Focaccia (white Pizza, bun) with natural yeast.

Ingredients for yeast dough activation:
wheat flour (half-whole or whole, better if bio)
water (better if non chlorinated)
some yeast dough.

Yeast dough activation:
Yeast Dough (photo a) should be activated the evening before you bake. Put it in a bowl, add 2 tablespoons warm water, 2 tablespoons of flour and mix well (photo b). Leave to stand in a warm place and away from flowing air all night long. In the morning (photo c) put aside some yeast dough (usually 1/3) to make bread the next time: better see "Yeast dough keeping" below.

	(photo a) Yeast dough just out of the refrigerator
	(photo b) Yeast dough activated and just before rest
	(photo c) Yeast dough after 8 hour long rest

Ingredients for bread:
600 gr (21 oz) wheat flour (white, half-whole or whole, better if bio)
250 gr (9 oz) water (better if non chlorinated)
1 teaspoon salt
some yeast dough.

Bread Preparation:
In the morning take 2/3 of yeast dough that rested all night long then add flour and warm water, in which salt has previously been dissolved.
Work vigorously for at least 15 minutes (photo d) then put to rest and leave leaven until doubled the size (2-4 hours long, but timing are greatly variable depending on temperature, humidity and baker's mood) (photo e).
Make some cut on top to avoid irregular cracks while cooking.
Oven following your tastes: 30-50 minutes long in already warmed-up oven at 180-200°C (350-390 °C) or if you like it with low crust oven without pre-heating, same timing and temperature (photo f). It's difficult to give better indications because every oven is different.

Note: A cut or groove just before ovening is important because bread keep growing-up during heating and if a direction is not found, breaks the surface.


Bread correctly cut	Bread with insufficent cut

Note: leaven times are indicatory. Temperature, humidity, draught and other elements have a great impact. Better to use as a reference the volume increase (it usually doubles). For instance if in winter you need 8-10 hours leaven time, in summer you only need 3-4.
Professional bakers use constant temperature and humidity chambers to always get the best possible result.
The ideal temperature for leaven is 30-38 °C (86-100 °F), to get it you can use one of these tricks. Put dough:

in a close environment (oven switched off for instance) within some warm water cans;
in oven (switched off) leaving the internal light on: warm generated by bulb is enough.
in a can on the refrigerator: the serpentine cooler on the back side becomes warm.

	An experiment with 50% wheat flour and 50% barley flour shows not very good results
	Bread entirely made with whole wheat flour. Good leaven here.

Note: regarding water there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
1st. Add warm water is not correct: what really matter is dough temperature: it should be 27-28°C (80-82 °F) while working it. If dough is too much warm the risk is to let amides interfere with gluten or worst to kill ferments, if too cold leaven process gets stopped.
Add cold water if dough is too warm or add warmer water if dough is too cold. Example: external temperature 40 °C (100 °F), add icing water !.
Can use a thermometer or simply put a finger in dough and feel.
2nd. Chlorine interferes with leaven, use mineral water or leave tap water to rest for some hours. Best would be to use source water.
Note: dough is sensible to movements, the risk is to 'deflate' it. If possible use the same container (pot or grid) that will be used for cooking when making the latest working steps.
Note: if you go wrong with water / flour proportion you will get a hard unworkable or too soft dough. In 1st case add water and work for a while, in 2nd case do not add flour or you will compromise the previous kneading work (and the glutinic net already created). Leave near-liquid dough and put it in can with borders high enought to hold leaven: you will get a good result. Someone deliberately leaves dough near liquid and get wonderful rising (note from Francesco).
Note: when you open the oven door to insert bread, pizza or else, it'temperature drops. To keep it almost constant you can pre-heat oven at a higher temperature: 30-50°C (50-90 °F) more, then after having inserted the oven product you set it at what required by the recipe.
This trick is particularly useful for leavened products where the first 5-10 cooking minutes are required as leaven fixing. Other fundamental trick: never open the oven door during the first cooking minutes.
Note: to avoid too much crisp you can paint olive oil the top side of bread (or pizza, ...) just before ovening.
It is important olive oil to be used because other oils have a smoke point at low temperatures. For instance sunflower oil gets smoked at 160°C (320°F). To get further details see Smoke Point.
Note: to dress bread, pizza, focaccia you can proceed in two distinct ways. If dressing is water-aboundant as tomato juice, paint dressing before ovening, then add the rest (for instance mozzarella cheese) after ovening. Warning do not paint pizza with oil before dressing, or dressing will not get absorbed and will leak-out.
If very crisp or a good cheese melting is desired oven again switching grill on.
If tomato or other water-aboundant dressing are NOT used, paint some oil before ovening. At cooking end ad dressing (prepared apart mixing all the ingredients, oil included) and if you like very crisp oven again switching grill on.
Moozzarella cheese (and other fresh cheeses) can not resist for all the cooking time: the natural sugars caramelize. For this reason it is added at the end and for short time.
Note: to get low and crisp pizza or bread reduce yeast, reduce yeast nutrition (sugar), reduce oil.
At and of required cooking keep in oven again and reduce temperature.
At the opposite you you like higher and softer bread and pizza use flour with higher gluten amount, use longer leaven times, add oil or milk.
Note: obviously, the ingredients quality has a main role. Best is "fresh" bio flour and from a known source; water too is better if oligo-mineral or possibly source water is used.

	(photo d) Bread before leavening
	(photo e) Bread after 3 hours long leavening
	(photo f) Bread just ovened, 30 minutes long at 200°C (390*F)

Yeast dough keeping:
Yeast dough before activation

Must be kept in refrigerator in a glass can NOT firmly close. You can make bread every day or seldom, but you must feed it at least once per week (better daily), even if you don't need it.

Feed it by adding 2 flour teaspoons, 4 water teaspoons and 1 honey teaspoon. If you feed it daily you can omit honey. Never use salt !. Melt ingredients with dough. At end you will get a creamy mix: see photo.
About the glass can: better if you don't wash it: ferments gets helped.
Note: it is possible to make your own "natural yeast" from scratch, but a lot of patience is required. Before the different bacterias get "stronger" at least one year is required. Better to get it from someone that alread has it, usually the more yeast is aged the stronger it is. During the years, bacteria responsible of leaven have the time to adapt to all of the "climatic changes" and for this reason they supply "constant performances".

Special thank to "Lele" from pesaro g.a.s. for supplying an yeast dough kept alive since 100+ years.

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Focaccia (white Pizza, bun) with natural yeast

Focaccia with semi-whole flour just cooked

Pizza with semi-whole flour with mushrooms, sliced

Category: kitchen - bread, pizza, bun, focaccia
Yeast dough = Mother dough = natural leaven
This recipe is divided in 2 steps: first one to "activate" yeast, second one to make focaccia. With this recipe you will be able to make 1 Kg (2 lb) focaccia.
It's important to carefully read all (numerous) the notes that reveal all the tricks needed to get a good result: this recipe is not for beginners.
There's a similar recipe to make Bread with yeast dough.

Ingredients for yeast dough activation:
wheat flour (half-whole or whole, better if bio)
water (better if non chlorinated)
some yeast dough.

Yeast dough activation:
Yeast Dough (photo a) should be activated the evening before you bake. Put it in a bowl, add 2 tablespoons warm water, 2 tablespoons of flour and mix well (photo b). Leave to stand in a warm place and away from flowing air all night long. In the morning (photo c) put aside some yeast dough (usually 1/3) to make bread the next time: better see Yeast dough keeping.

	(photo a) Yeast dough just out of the refrigerator
	(photo b) Yeast dough activated and just before rest
	(photo c) Yeast dough after 8 hour long rest

Ingredients for focaccia:
600 gr (21 oz) wheat flour (white, half-whole or whole, better if bio)
250 gr (9 oz) water (better if non chlorinated)
150 cc (8 tablespoons) olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
some yeast dough.

Focaccia Preparation:
In the morning take 2/3 of yeast dough that rested all night long then add flour and warm water, in which salt has previously been dissolved and oil.
Work vigorously for at least 15 minutes (photo d) then put to rest and leave leaven until near doubled the size (1 hours long, but timing are greatly variable depending on temperature, humidity and baker's mood) (photo e).
Lay down on pan by using fingers. Dress with con crude olive oil, rosemary and some salt (photo d).
Leave to rest one hour long. Oven following your tastes: 30 minutes long in already warmed-up oven at 200°C (390 °C) or if you like it with low crust oven without pre-heating, same timing and temperature (photo e). It's difficult to give better indications because every oven is different.

Note: leaven times are indicatory. Temperature, humidity, draught and other elements have a great impact. Better to use as a reference the volume increase (it usually doubles). For instance if in winter you need 8-10 hours leaven time, in summer you only need 3-4.
Professional bakers use constant temperature and humidity chambers to always get the best possible result.
The ideal temperature for leaven is 30-38 °C (86-100 °F), to get it you can use one of these tricks. Put dough:

in a close environment (oven switched off for instance) within some warm water cans;
in oven (switched off) leaving the internal light on: warm generated by bulb is enough.
in a can on the refrigerator: the serpentine cooler on the back side becomes warm.

In any way NEVER put dough over the radiator: it's too warm.
Note: 15 minutes kneading are required to oxigen dough and break(pluck) gluten, by keeping it better accessible to yeast. All of this has a practical positive effect on leaven.
Note: yeast dough suffer draught, warm and cold. Must not be ermetically closed, but covered with a cotton cloth.
It's important the can or pot used for leaven to be narrow and high, because leaven works better if dough grows vertically.
Note: regarding water there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
1st. Add warm water is not correct: what really matter is dough temperature: it should be 27-28°C (80-82 °F) while working it. If dough is too much warm the risk is to let amides interfere with gluten or worst to kill ferments, if too cold leaven process gets stopped.
Add cold water if dough is too warm or add warmer water if dough is too cold. Example: external temperature 40 °C (100 °F), add icing water !.
Can use a thermometer or simply put a finger in dough and feel.
2nd. Chlorine interferes with leaven, use mineral water or leave tap water to rest for some hours. Best would be to use source water.
Note: dough is sensible to movements, the risk is to 'deflate' it. If possible use the same container (pot or grid) that will be used for cooking when making the latest working steps.
Note: if you go wrong with water / flour proportion you will get a hard unworkable or too soft dough. In 1st case add water and work for a while, in 2nd case do not add flour or you will compromise the previous kneading work (and the glutinic net already created). Leave near-liquid dough and put it in can with borders high enought to hold leaven: you will get a good result. Someone deliberately leaves dough near liquid and get wonderful rising (note from Francesco).
Note: when you open the oven door to insert bread, pizza or else, it'temperature drops. To keep it almost constant you can pre-heat oven at a higher temperature: 30-50°C (50-90 °F) more, then after having inserted the oven product you set it at what required by the recipe.
This trick is particularly useful for leavened products where the first 5-10 cooking minutes are required as leaven fixing. Other fundamental trick: never open the oven door during the first cooking minutes.
Note: to avoid too much crisp you can paint olive oil the top side of bread (or pizza, ...) just before ovening.
It is important olive oil to be used because other oils have a smoke point at low temperatures. For instance sunflower oil gets smoked at 160°C (320°F). To get further details see Smoke Point.
Note: to dress bread, pizza, focaccia you can proceed in two distinct ways. If dressing is water-aboundant as tomato juice, paint dressing before ovening, then add the rest (for instance mozzarella cheese) after ovening. Warning do not paint pizza with oil before dressing, or dressing will not get absorbed and will leak-out.
If very crisp or a good cheese melting is desired oven again switching grill on.
If tomato or other water-aboundant dressing are NOT used, paint some oil before ovening. At cooking end ad dressing (prepared apart mixing all the ingredients, oil included) and if you like very crisp oven again switching grill on.
Moozzarella cheese (and other fresh cheeses) can not resist for all the cooking time: the natural sugars caramelize. For this reason it is added at the end and for short time.
Note: to get low and crisp pizza or bread reduce yeast, reduce yeast nutrition (sugar), reduce oil.
At and of required cooking keep in oven again and reduce temperature.
At the opposite you you like higher and softer bread and pizza use flour with higher gluten amount, use longer leaven times, add oil or milk.
Note: obviously, the ingredients quality has a main role. Best is "fresh" bio flour and from a known source; water too is better if oligo-mineral or possibly source water is used.

	(photo d) Focaccia ready for oven
	(photo e) Focaccia made with semi-whole flour just ovened
	(photo f) Focaccia made with whole flour just ovened
	(photo g) Focaccia just ovened, detail

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Must Bread with natural yeast

Category: kitchen - bread
Yeast dough = Mother dough = natural leaven
Important information about leaven, click here.

coming soon ...

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Barley Azyme Bread (yeast-less)

Category: kitchen - bread
Important information about leaven, click here.

Azyme bread does not leavens thus it is thin and compact.
As the recipe is very quick and simple here is presented a tasty variation with barley flour. If using other other flour types remember to keep the proportion of 2 parts flour for each water part.
Quantity for 2 breads.

Ingredients:
400 gr (14 oz) barley flour
200 gr (7 oz) wheat flour (0 type)
250 gr (9 oz) (about) water (possibly non clorinated)
1 teaspoon salt
80 gr (3 oz) olive oil
3 handful sesame seeds
3 handful sunflower seeds

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients by adding flours gradually.
Cook in already warmed-up oven 20 minutes at 200°C (390°F) then again 10 minutes at 180°C (360°C); total oven time 30 minutes.
Azyme bread ready to be ovened

Variant:
Leave to rest all night long before cooking to get a light leaven.

Note: when you open the oven door to insert bread, pizza or else, it'temperature drops. To keep it almost constant you can pre-heat oven at a higher temperature: 30-50°C (50-90 °F) more, then after having inserted the oven product you set it at what required by the recipe.
This trick is particularly useful for leavened products where the first 5-10 cooking minutes are required as leaven fixing. Other fundamental trick: never open the oven door during the first cooking minutes.
Note: to avoid too much crisp you can paint olive oil the top side of bread (or pizza, ...) just before ovening.
It is important olive oil to be used because other oils have a smoke point at low temperatures. For instance sunflower oil gets smoked at 160°C (320°F). To get further details see Smoke Point.
Note: obviously, the ingredients quality has a main role. Best is "fresh" bio flour and from a known source; water too is better if oligo-mineral or possibly source water is used.

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Potato Cheese Scones - traditional Scottish bread

Category: kitchen - bread
Important information about leaven, click here.

Dose for 4 buns but you can multiply quantities to increase the production.
Cooking time 15 minutes.
Differently from 'low yeast content' recipes these one makes use of instantaneous yeast thus does not require waiting times. Like a cake just make and oven.
This recipe is for savoury scones, best served with cheese, bacon, ...
Is a variation of the traditional recipe: we make use of yeast and oven instead of frying.
For exaustive infos about scons please refer to WikiPedia
Ingredients:
60+ gr whole wheat flour (see note)
60 gr boiled and mashed potatoes
1 egg (both white and yolk)
1 dose of instantaneous yeast powder for pizza
25 ml milk
25 gr melted butter
25 gr grated cheese Grana o Emmenthaler
2 half teaspoons of salt
a tip of spices: salvia, rosemary and oregano

Preparation:
Stroke the egg, melt with butter then add mashed potatoes, wheat (see note), salt, spices, grated cheese and milk. At end add yeast and pour until you get a pliable dought.
Pre-heat oven at 220 °C (430 °F) and make 4 buns. Put buns onto a pan prepared with cooiing paper. Make a cross on the buns for easier leaven.
Oven immediately and cook for 15 minutes.
Best served still warm, alone or with savoury foods (cheese, salame, ...).
Note: potatoes can affect the density of the paste; add wheat if required: up to 2 or 3 times the declared amount.

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Potato Cheese Pie

Category: kitchen - side dish
Ovened potatoes in a savoury pie. Inserted by Tilde.

Ingredients:
peleed potato, washed and sliced (light slices)
olive oil (can use butter instead)
milk
parmigiano cheese flakes
rosmarino
salt
milled pepper
Note: quantitities depend on the number of layers (see below) and from the pan size.

Preparation:
Get a low and large pan, spread on oven paper.
(layer 1)
Pour some olive oil (or butter) on the oven paper.
Spread a potato layer lightly overlapped.
Wet with 1-2 milk spoons.
Add a very small amount of: salt, pepper and rosmarino.
Cover with a light layer of parmigiano cheese.
(layer 2)
Spread a potato layer lightly overlapped.
Wet with 1-2 milk spoons.
Pour some (1 spoon of) olive oil (or butter).
Add a very small amount of: salt, pepper and rosmarino.
Cover with a light layer of parmigiano cheese.

You can go on with further layers of type (layer 2) as you wish.
In other words all the layers are identical except the firts one where oil is put before potatoes instead of after potatoes.

Oven at 200 °C for 45 minuts or
use a microwave oven at maximum power with Grill on for 20 minuts.
Adding more than 2 layers, the cooking time increases.

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Omelet with potatoes

Category: cooking - omelette

Ingredients:
600 gr. potatoes (4 medium size potatoes)
6 eggs medium size
some extra virgin olive oil
a bit of salt

Preparation:
Slice potatoes (grape berry size)
Cook in a frying pan, using a few olive oil, for about 20 minutes, until they start turning golden. The secret of this recipe is all in the potatoes cooking. They must be melted continuously for all the time.
By cutting them in small slices you shorten cooking time but omelet loose something.
In a pan stroke eggs and ad a bit of salt. When potatoes are ready ad a bit of salt in frying pan too, melt and then pour eggs.
Cook for some minute and turn omelet upside-down for 2-3 times. Serve warm.

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Omelettes with ricotta cheese

Category: cooking - omelette

Ingredients for omelette:
6 eggs, medium size
1 spoon of water (better if sparkling)
1 bit of salt
1 bit of pepper
30 gr. butter

Ingredients for filling:
250 gr. ricotta cheese
1 rucola sliced
2 spoons grated parmigiano cheese
1 bit of salt
2 spoons of milk

Omelette preparation:
Scramble eggs with salt and pepper.
You need a 18-20 cm (6-8 inches) diameter pan. Butter is needed to avoid omelette glueing onto the pan: melt butter directly on the pan and recover the exceeding quantity into filling.
Pour 1/2 of filling on to the pan and cook. You will get 2 omelettes.

Filling preparation:
Melt all the filling ingredients together until you get a soft cream.

Preparation:
Lay down th 2 omelettes on oven paper and spread the filling on.
Roll up omelettes (oven paper is of great help for this) until you get 2 2 cigars.
Once cooled, slice them.
Serve at ambient temperature or lightly warm.

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Raviggiolo Cheese

Category: kitchen - cheese

It's a very fresh cheese, similar (but not too much) to squaquerone, stracchino, crescenza.
It's tipical from italian tosco-romagnolo Appennines and montefeltro.
As it is prepared from raw milk it is easily perishable: that's why it is prepared generally in winter time.
The first certain document reporting Raviggiolo news is dated 1515 when a magistrate brought as a gift to Pope Leone X some raviggiolos in a basket covered with ferns.

Ingredients:
2 liters (4 pints) raw (non pasteurized) milk, the best would be to use just milked still warm milk
rennet (see note)
salt as needed (less than a tea spoon), optional

Preparation:
Put milk in a (rigorously steel) pot.
let it warm-up on fire melting sometime:
without a thermometer put the finger in it and when you feel milk warm (35-40°C), switch off fire.
Add rennet and melt (photo b).
Warm-up the internal part of the pot lid on fire for some few seconds.
Close the milk pot (still warm) with lid (must be sealed).
Cover well the pot and lid with some towels, tablecloths or a cover (to keep warm) (photo c and d) and leave to rest for 3 hours long.
After 3 hours milk is coagulated (the exact word is curdled) (photo e).
Without breaking curdles you now have to separate whey, by means of a holed ladle (photo f and g).
Eventually fill some holed smaller cans.
Add salt (do not exceed !!). Salt can be omitted, some family do not add it at all.
The cheese is ready ! ... But wait almost 24 hours long before eating.
In summer time keep it in refrigerator or a very cool cellar. Remember to store it in the holed cheese cans to let whey get separated or in a larger holed pot (photo g). Cheese must be eaten within 3-4 days from preparation because it is made starting from raw milk and produced in a familiar place.
NOTE:
Rennet can be bought in drugstore ot pharmacy. Rennet can be prepared from different sources and can be found as a liquid, in powder or as a dough.
Rennet has a big influence in cheese taste, we decisely prefer the natural calf one.
We used two different types: The microbic one coming from Mucor Mihei molds and another coming from calves abomasum.
Quantity and curdling time depends upon the rennet type, refer to enclosed instructions. The Mucor Mihei rennet we used requires 1 spoon for each milk liter (1 liter = 2 pints abt), the calves abomasum one requires 1 tea-spoon for 10 milk liters (20 pints).
At home it is possible to use lemon juice instead of rennet.
Technically speaking the most important parameter identifying rennet is the coagulant powder or rennet strength, i.e. the speed of milk coagulation, named IMCU. See Wikipedia for further details.

NOTE:
With whey, ricotta cheese or lattella can be prepared ...
NOTE:
To let rennet make a good curdle, the ambient temperature must not exceed 18-20 °C (64-68 °F). At higher temps curdle results with an insufficient agglomeration density !
NOTE:
To flavour Raviggiolo, it is common use to serround curdles with fig, cabbage or fern leaves.

	(photo a) Ingredients to make Raviggiolo Cheese
	(photo b) Adding rennet
	(photo c) Covering
	(photo d) Keep covered to hold temperature
	(photo e) After 3 hours milk Curdled
	(photo f) Whey from curdles separation
	(photo g) leave drain (24 hours long)
	(photo h) Cheese is ready.

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Yogurt or yogourt or yoghurt

Here history and a description of the different kinds of yogurt.

Category: kitchen - cheese

Ingredients:
1 liter or 1 pint of whole milk
1 "live culture" yogurt cup

Preparation:
Let milk boil for some minutes if you are using non pastorized milk. Leave it at ambient temperature until it lowers to body temperature 40°C or 100°F (put your finger in it: just have to feel a light warm), then add 2 table-spoons of yogurt. Melt well and put the whole into an appropriate can that can be closed (a glass bottle for fruit juices is ok), wrap it in a wool cloth. Put it near a warm source far from air flow.
Leave the yogurt to rest for at least 8 hour long, then put it in the refrigerator and let it there for other 8 hours long without touching it.
Now the yogurt is ready: you can keep 2 spoons apart to make again the yogurt using the same procedure.

Please note that this recipe is for stirred yogurt (see below) industrially produced. With other kind of ferments one must know tha kind of milk, the required temperature and the moment when ferments must be added to milk.

Of course the higher is the quality of ingredients the higher will be the yogurt quality; using just milked milk from cow feeded in a biological way results in a superb yogurt.


Set Yogurt	Stirred Yogurt

NOTE: lactic ferments transform lactose in lactic acid. The acid acts as rennet letting milk agglomerate.
Basically there are 2 different kind of yogurts:
set where fermentation occurs directly in the final cup
stirred where fermentation occurs in a specific can and at end the result is melted (curd is broken) and the result then poured in final cup.
The main difference is that the first is decisely dense, like a pudding, and the second one is a cream.
The yougurt you can normally buy is the stirred one. Some artigianal set yogurts have a non uniform density and many clots but they hae a limited market: density and cloths give the idea that yougurt has go bad, but, usually, it is of superb quality.

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Ovened Salmon

Category: kitchen - fish

Ingredients:
1 salmon fillet, 500 gr (1 lb) abt
1/2 limon juice
olive oil
salt, pepper, oregano

Preparation:
Put fillet on the pan and dress with all of the other ingredients.
Oven at a 200 °C (390 °F) for 15 minutes (oven already pre-heated).
Very simple and tasty recipe.
Similar to a swedish recipe tasted at Ikea.

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Greek Yogurt Cream (sugarfree cake !)

Category: kitchen - yogurt, cakes

Ingredients:
200 gr (o a cup) greek yogurt Cream
2 walnuts
1 honey teaspoon

Preparation:
Shell walnuts and crumble the content.
Melt all the ingredients or, for an actractive look, put yogurt in an beautiful cup, spread out the crumbled walnuts and cover all with honey.
Very good, sugarless, but has many calories.
Greek Yogurt Cream, ingredients

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Cheese Cake

Category: cooking - pies

Preparation: not particularly critic but a little long.
This recipe is to make "British Cheese Cake".
oven is not required, you only need the refrigerator.

It probably has ancient origins:
first references are from the ancient Greece, where a similar cake was served in 776 B.C. in Delos isle, Greece, to olimpic athlets. From Greece, Romans exported it all over Europe.
It's actually widely diffused all over the world. Since then many variations have been location developed (see WikiPedia). The most known is the New York (USA) Cheese Cake: the main ingredient is "Philadelphia" cheese, that has a particular story that deserves to be mentioned. It was invented by James L. Kraft, while trying to re-create the franch cheese Neufchâtel. It's a pasteurized fresh cheese and since then has become well known all over the world.
In Italy some (few) places still mantained the ancient roman tradition, making it with Ricotta Cheese and Honey.
If you make a search on the internet you can find Cheese cake recipes that make use of chocolate, mascarpone cheese, yogurt; Swedish even use milk + rennet and make curdle cheese directly in pan.
As a base dry cookies are used (McVities Digestive or other) but someone uses wafers, minced hazelnuts, ... Savoury cheese cake too do exist.
It can be eat as it is or with sweet sauces: with chocolate, strawberries, berries, ... last curious information: newyorkers slice it with dental floss !

Ingredients for base:
200 gr dry cookies (digestive or other)
200 gr butter
Ingredients for filling:
400 gr. Philadelphia cheese
4 eggs
1 sale bit (less then a teaspoon)
6+6 sugar spoons
1 gelatine dose (suited to make 500 gr. gelatine)
1/2 water (better non chorinated) glass

Base preparation:
Mince cookies. Add perfectly melted butter and stir well. Put on the pan bottom, diameter of which should be chosen to get, once places, a abt 1 cm layer.
Put in refrigerator for at least 1/2 an hour while preparing filling.

Filling preparation:
Break eggs separating yolks and white. Put yolks in a big pan and whites in a medium pan. Add salt to whites and whisk to snow, then add 6 sugar spoons.
In the meantime wet gelatine sheets (use cold water) for at least 10 minutes.
Add 6 sugar spoons to yolks and whisk. Add Philadelphia and mix. Add the previuously prepared whites. Remove gelatine sheets from water, squeeze them, lukewarm water previously used to wet them and let them melt. Pour until you get it omogeneous but pay attention NOT TO THICKEN. Add to all the other ingredients and mix well.
Pour in the final pan. Immediately put in refrigerator.
Wait at least a couple of hours (better if all night long) before eating.
NOTE: as the just prepared filling is nearly liquid, pour it in pan when you are close to refrigerator in order to reduce mouvements and conseguent filling losses.

Ingredients for Cheese Cake

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Chocolate chips Muffins

Category: cooking - cakes

Preparation: quite easy and quick.
This recipe comes from an american girl, original measuring units in "cups" have been left
(1 cup = 237 ml = 237 gr water but not sugar nor flour)
With these quantities you make 12 normal or 6 jumbo muffins.

Ingredients:
2 cup (250 gr) wheat flour
1/2 cup (100 gr) sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) seed oil (of peanuts, see note)
1/2 cup (80 ml) yogurt and some water (see preparation) or 3/4 cup (180 ml) milk
1 egg
1 bit of salt
1 leaven dose (2 teaspoon)
1/3 cup (60 gr) dairy free chocolate chips
some cane sugar (see preparation)

Preparation:
Mix well solid (powder) ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, liaven) between them and those liquid (oil, yogurt, egg without separating yolk and white) between them.
Pour liquids into solids and mix well, add if required some water: you have to get a dense cream (see photo).
Add chocolate chips and pour in muffin mould with the aid of a spoon; snow some cane sugar for each muffin. Bake at 180°C for 25 minutes in already warmed-up oven.

Note: the trick to make a good leaven is to keep separate dry and liquid ingredients and mix them at end. Once together pay attention not to over-mix them.
Note: When an oil reaches its 'smoke point' looses its own characteristics and molecula starts decompose. Further increasing temperature, toxic substances are generated.
Ovening for instance at 180°C / 355°F better not to use Corn, Soya, Sunflower oil.
To get further details see Smoke Point.
Chocolate chips Muffins

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Triple chocolate Muffins

Category: cooking - cakes

Preparation: quite easy and quick, has low fats.
Inspiration from an american blog, with some modifications. Original measuring units in "cups" have been left
(1 cup = 237 ml = 237 gr water but not sugar nor flour)
With these quantities you make 12 normal or 6 jumbo muffins.

Ingredients:
125 gr (1 cup) all purpouse flour
60 gr (1/2 cup) whole wheat flour
200 gr (1 cup) sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
30 gr (1/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 leaven dose (2 teaspoon)
5 spoons apple juice
1 spoon white vinegar
120 ml (1/2 cup) milk
2 spoons seed oil (of peanuts, see note)
1 egg
60 gr (1/3 cup) dark chocolate chips
chocolate cream (Nutella)
6/12 hazelnuts

Preparation:
Wisk well dry ingredients (flours, sugar, salt, cocoa, leaven) between them and liquid ones (juice, vinegar, milk, oil, egg yolk and white) between them.
Combine liquid and dry ingredients and mix.
Add chocolate chips and mix.
Pour in muffin pan with a spoon.
Add a chocolate cream teaspoon in any muffin center, then put a whole hazelnut at the center of any muffin, drowning in paste.
Bake at 180°C for 25 minutes in already warmed-up oven.

Note: instead of chocolate cream and hazelnut can use apricot jam, but muffin will become double chocolate !
Note: the trick to make a good leaven is to keep separate dry and liquid ingredients and mix them at end. Once together pay attention not to over-mix them.
Note: When an oil reaches its 'smoke point' looses its own characteristics and molecula starts decompose. Further increasing temperature, toxic substances are generated.
Ovening for instance at 180°C / 355°F better not to use Corn, Soya, Sunflower oil.
To get further details see Smoke Point.
Muffin Gocce Cioccolato

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Lemon (crostata) Pie

Category: cooking - pies

The preparation (as long as the ingredients) is divided in 2 steps.

Ingredients for pastry:
300 gr. wheat floor
100 gr. of butter
5 spoons of milk
6 spoons of sugar
3 yolks
1 dose of levure for cakes (2 teaspoons)

Preparation for pastry:
Blink together: 3 yolks, sugar and milk; add melted butter. Mix levure and wheat together then add to the paste.
Stir very well until you get a compact pastry to be spread by hand on a low and wide pot.
You will find useful oven paper.
Now prepare filling.
When until warm pour on the pie just to cover up with a uniform layer.
Baking: 180°C (350°F) in already warmed up oven for 25-30 minutes.

Lemon cream

Ingredients for filling:
4-5 lemons (need 200 ml / 8 fl.oz of juice) see Note below
10 sugar spoons
5 full flour (or better potato starch) spoons
3 eggs
300 ml (10 fl.oz) water see Note below

Preparation for filling (custard cream):
Mix flour (or starch) with sugar, eggs, gently add lemon juice then water: mix very well to avoid clotting. Put on gentle fire always mixing. When it starts boiling wait until becomes dense (usually a couple of minutes are required). Remove from fire and pour still warm.
Note: the total liquids required for filling is 500 ml (12 fl.oz) you can change the proportions between lemon juice and water but NOT the total amount.
Note: 4 lemons and 1 blonde orange juice istead of 5 lemons gives a gentle taste.
Note: do NOT use milk !! Due to lemon juice, milk will curdle !

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grandmother Pie

Category: cooking - pies

Ingredients for base:
300 gr wheat flour
150 gr sugar
2 eggs
100 gr butter
1/2 dose of levure for cakes (1 teaspoon)
almonds or pine seeds

Ingredients for filling (pasticcera cream):
1/2 liter of milk
4 eggs
8 sugar spoons
4 wheat flour spoons
1 dose of vanillin (if you like it)
1 lemon (grated skin)

Preparation:
Mix sugar, flour, levure, eggs and melted butter; amalgamate well until you get a soft dough.
Divide by 2, spread one half on the baking tin, covering edges too. Pour pasticcera cream (see below) until warm, then stretch the 2nd half of dough on it, snow grated almonds or minced pine seeds the oven.
Let cook until gets a beautiful golden colour.

Pasticcera cream preparation:
Warm up milk and grated lemon skin to near boiling, in the meantime shake very well yolks and sugar. Add flour and keep shaking. When it's all well amalgamated add warm milk, put on fire and remember to always mix in the same direction, never let it start boiling.
While cooking, cream absorbs milk foam. When the desired consistency has been reached remove from fire.

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Apple (crostata) Pie

Category: cooking - pies
It's probably THE classic pie, introduced here in it's variant 'crostata'. Inserted by Tilde.

The preparation (as long as the ingredients) is divided in 2 steps.

Preparation for pastry:
Blink together: 3 yolks, sugar and milk; add melted butter. Mix levure and wheat together then add to the paste.
Stir very well until you get a compact pastry to be spread by hand on a low and wide pot.
You will find useful oven paper.

Ingredients for filling:
200 gr. of cotognata (cotogne apples jam)
3-4 apples, golden type medium size
1 prepared dose for jelly
2 spoons of sugar
juice from 1/2 lemon
250 ml of water

Preparation for pastry:
Blink together: 3 yolks, sugar and milk; add melted butter. Mix levure and wheat together then add to the paste.
Stir very well until you get a compact pastry to be spread by hand on a low and wide pot.
You will find useful oven paper.
Spread cotognata on it. Put apples very fine sliced until you cover all the surface.
Baking: 180°C (350°F) in already warmed up oven for 25-30 minutes.

filling

Preparation for filling:
Wait until ovened and let cool for some minutes.
Prepare the jelly by mixing water, sugar, lemon juice, jelly praparation and mix whuile warming up on fire.
Pour on the pie just to cover up with a uniform layer.

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Apple Strudel - ApfelStrudel

Category: cooking - cakes
Strudel is a tipical cake from Austria, precisely from Vienna, from where it was diffused all over the world.
You can find more references on Wikipedia (german language). The Wikipedia recipe is here.
Preparation time: 1 hour + cooking

Ingredients for mixture:
250 gr. white flour
100 ml water
a bit of sugar
a bit of salt
2 spoons oil
1 egg (whole)

Ingredients for filling:
1,5 Kg (whole) apples (better if golden type)
100 gr pine seeds
150 gr raisin
1 lemon
6 spoons sugar
6 spoons grated bread
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation of mixture:
Shake egg with water and oil, add salt and sugar then flour.
Mix until you get an elastic dough.
Wrap it up with transparent plastic film and put it apart in a cool place for 30 minutes.
During this time prepare the filling (see below).
After 30 minutes roll mixture with pin until you get a thin short-pastry.
Warning: thin means as thin as possible but not too much or it will rip later.
Put mixture on short-pastry and roll letting air go out.
Put the roll on the cooking plane.
If you like glossy surface paint with a shaked egg before ovening.
Oven in an already warmed up oven at 180°C for 30 minutes.

Preparation of filling:
Peel and break into peaces apples, add lemon juice, add the remaining filling ingredients and uniformly melt.

Note: In some (german speaking) places you can find strudel-pastry ready made.
Note: Do not alter the 30 minutes waiting time and remaining steps explained or you will not be able to get the short-pastry.
Short-pastry has to be rolled as thin as possible (see photo). To avoid rips put it on cooking-paper before rolling is complete. This greatly eases rolling with filling and subsequent move on backing plane.
Note: you can change filling following your tastes.
strudel filling

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Wild Berries Pie

Category: cooking - cakes
Praparation time: 1/2 hour + cooking
coming soon ...

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Roses Pie with natural yeast

Category: cooking - cakes
Preparation time: 1 day
coming soon ...

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(Stale) Bread Cake

Category: cooking - cakes
Typical Aunt cake using as ingredients bread leftovers. Both stale (better) or fresh bread can be used.
Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
250 gr. stale bread
750 ml. milk (see preparation)
150 gr. sugar
3 apples
100 gr. raisin
1 lemon (grated skin)
1 egg (optional)
powdered sugar (after cooking)
NOTE: no yeast, bread doesn't leaven.

Preparation:
Slice bread in small chops and soak in milk. Milk amount varies: you have to cover up all the bread. Soak raisin in a glass of water. Both bread and raisin need at least 1/2 or 1 hour long soaking time, but longer times are preferable for dried bread.
Peel apples and cut into thin slices. Beat the egg. Put ingredients all together and melt; do not waste raisin soaking water pour it into mixture. Cook at 180°C 1 hour long in pre-heated oven.
Snow aboundant powdered sugar when still warm.
Put again in till warm oven until cool. Useful because cake is 'wet'.
bread cake

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Buckwheat Pie - Schwarzplententorte - Torte de Poia (ladin)

Category: cooking - cakes
Preparation time: 1 hour + cooking
coming soon ...

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Spelt Pie

Category: cooking - cakes
Preparation time: 15 minutes + cooking

Ingredients:
3 eggs
100 gr. butter
6+ spoons milk (see preparation)
200 gr. spelt flour whole or half-whole
100 gr. wheat flour white or half-whole
6 sugar spoons
1 dose of levure for cakes (2 teaspoons)
250 gr apricots jam
icing sugar

Preparation:
Stroke eggs (yolk and white) with sugar, add melted butter then 6 milk spoons.
Add flours and levure and mix well. Add again milk until you get a creamy paste.
Cook in pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30-40 minutes.
Let temperature down, slice in two parts (see photo), generously spread jam. Re-compose pie then snow icing sugar.
Just ovened

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Walnut and Chocolate Pie

Category: cooking - cakes
Preparation time: 30 minutes + cooking
This is the classic version, really cool; here a version for chocolate enthusiasts.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
300 gr. flour
100 gr. butter
150 gr. sugar
250 ml (a glass of) milk
120 gr walnuts inside (abt 500 gr nuts) (Sorrento nuts are wonderful)
1 spoon full of unsweetened cocoa
150 gr dairy free chocolate chips
1 dose of levure for cakes (2 teaspoons)

Preparation:
Shell nuts.
Stroke eggs (yolk and white) with sugar, add melted butter. Mix levure with flour. Add milk, flour+levure and all the other ingredients. At end you will get a cream.
Cook in pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes.

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Chocolate and Walnut Pie

Category: cooking - cakes
Preparation time: 30 minutes + cooking
This is the version for chocolate enthusiasts; classic version is here.

Ingredients:
5 eggs
60 gr. butter
150 gr. sugar
100 gr. flour
1 dose of levure for cakes (2 teaspoons)
100 gr walnuts inside (abt 400 gr nuts) (Sorrento nuts are wonderful)
2 spoons unsweetened cocoa
1 handful dairy free chocolate chips

Preparation:
Shell nuts.
Stroke eggs (yolk and white) with sugar, add melted butter. Add flour and levure. Add nuts, cocoa and chocolate chips.
Cook in pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes.

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Ricotta cheese cake

Category: cooking - cakes
Preparation time: 15 minutes + oven

If someone doesn't like ricotta cheese will probably like this cake because ricotta cheese melts with the other ingrediens and gives the cake an incredible soften and creamy taste.

Ingredients:
300 gr. of wheat flour
175 gr. of sugar
2 eggs
50 gr. of butter
250 gr. of ricotta cheese (see note1)
200 gr. of milk (see note2)
1 lemon
1 dose of levure for cakes (2 teaspoons) or better 'Cremor tartaro'

You can double size just doubling the ingredients, the pan and increasing oven time (see note3).

Preparation:
Mix the eggs, add sugar and melt. Add melted butter.
Refine apart the ricotta cheese then add to the rest.
Add grated lemon skin, flour, milk (see note2) and at the end levure.
Cook at 180 °C for 45 (30-60) minutes about (see note3).
Note1: do not use low quality ricotta cheese. If ricotta cheese is not available you can use cottage cheese instead.
Note2: the milk quantity depends on the end paste density that must be creamy.
Note3: after 30 minutes you need to test the state by using a wood toothpicker because ricotta cheese causes the paste to be low density and this makes difficult to predict the cooking time.

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Apple Fries

Category: cooking - cakes
Tipical Carnival cake.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
250 ml (a glass of) milk
200 gr wheat flour
100 gr sugar
50-70 gr raisin
2 apples golden medium size
1 lemon (grated skin)
1 bit of salt
1 dose of leaven for cakes

Preparation:
Peel and slice apples in very small slices. Grate lemon rind.
Mix all the ingredients in the following order: eggs, sugar, flour, milk, ... At end you have to get a cream.
Fry in abundant oil or lard pouring 1 cream spoon after another. You will get small balls.
Once cooled down, snow icing sugar over balls.

Nota: per friggere si può usare olio oppure strutto. Contrariamente a quanto si pensa, usando lo strutto risulterà un fritto meno grasso in quanto lo stesso viene assorbito meno dall'impasto.

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Ricotta cheese and cocoa cream

Category: cooking - cakes
It's very simple, can be prepared in 5-10 minutes.
Ideal for an ipo-caloric break.

Ingredients for 1 person:
100 gr of ricotta cheese
1 spoon of sugar or brown sugar
1 spoon of unsweetened cacao
1 spoon of chocolate chips or chocolate flakes (dark or milk depends on your tastes)
milk as you like

Preparation:
Mix ricotta, sugar and cacao in a cup (the same where the cream will be served); eventually add some milk to let the creak get the consistency you like.
Add chocolate chips and mix again.
At the end spread on the cream some further chocolate.
If you like it warm you can put in microwave oven for 10-15 seconds.
Best served with some wafers.

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Pain d'Epice - Pain d'Epices - Spiced Bread - GingerBread

Category: cooking - cakes

This cake has ancestors long long ago: the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used to sweeten bread with honey and add spices.
The actual pain d'épices comes from China (where they call it mi-kong = honey bread) and offical documents report it as food for Gengis Khan troops (XIII° century).
In Europe it arrived in Medium Eve thanks to crusades following contacts with arab populations.
Nowadays some towns are well known to make optimum pain d'épices but the capital is Gertwiller, a small village in Alsace (France).
For further historical details (including the original recipe, different from this one) see french Wikipedia, where these information come from.
English too have an ancient GingerBread tradition since 1700. Interesting to be noted is the shape: it is baked with any shape from bread to cookies size; famous are popular Christmas decorations in all Europe. Famous is the Hans and Gretel Gingerbread House. Futher details can be found in english Wikipedia where these information come from. GingerBread recipe here.
Please note that Pain d'épice has some differences from GingerBread one. The french recipe presented here is much similar to bread and Ginger is not included !.

Ingredients:
125 gr white wheat flour
125 gr whole wheat flour
125 gr honey (rich tasted, f.i. chestnut)
60 gr butter
60 gr cane sugar
1 bit of salt
1 wine spoon (vinsanto or passito) (milk if alcholics are not welcome)
Spices: 3 gr anise, 3 gr cloves, 3 gr cinnamon, 3 gr nutmeg (see note)
1 baking powder dose

Preparation:
Spices must be in power form or (better) you need to finely mince at the moment.
Melt honey with wine (or milk) and mix well then add melted butter.
Mix sugar, flours, salt, yeast and spices.
melt liquid ingredints with solid ones.
Pre-wheat oven at 170-180°C and cook for 40-50 minutes.
This cake gives its best after 2-3 days.
Best served with tea or hot chocolate.
Note: spices are doles out so to balance taste; you are suggested not to change composition and/or quantities unless you have a good experience.
Spices should be accurately weigthed by a balance.
In northern Europe you can find a lot of variations of this cake, some using different spices (ginger, fennel, cardamom, ...) some adding walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, apples, coconut, candied fruit, ...

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Hot Cross Buns

Category: cooking - cakes
Tipical english easter cake. The cross is for Easter time. See Wikipedia.

Ingredients:
4 cups (600 gr.) of white flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of mixed spices (do not exceed)
6 oz. (150 gr) of butter
1/2 cup of raisins
1 oz. (25 gr) of baking powder
1/2 cup (75 gr.) of sugar
1 cup (150 gr.) of milk

Preparation:
Pour flour, salt and spices in a large bowl. Stir butter and raisins.
Warm the milk and melt yeast and sugar creamed together.
Add solid ingredients and melt making a dough. Work very well and for a long time.
Leave to rise in a warm place until the size has doubled.
Cut in small pieces and work again on a floured surface, make small balls and mark deeply making a cross. Leave to rise again for about 10 minutes.
Oven at 180-200 °C (350-400°F) for 20 minutes.
Let them cool and raise with honey or sugar dissolved in water.
Best served still warm with tea; but wonderful at ambient temp. too.
Note: At the exibition Easter Buns have been literally been taken into assault, the boys hadn't the time to make enought for everybody.

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WeihNachtsTorte - Christmas pie (sugarfree !)

Category: cooking - cakes
Note: it's a sweet cake, but absolutely sugarfree ! Someone calls it WeiNachtsTorte but this name is wrong, is missing an h.

Ingredients for cake:
4 eggs
200 gr. of whole wheat floor
200 gr butter
1 dose of levure for cakes (2 teaspoons) with vanilla extract
300 gr. honey
80 gr. unsweetened cocoa
1 baking powder dose
1 dose vanilla extract powder

Ingredients for decoration:
apricot jam
coconut unsweetened small sized (near powder) flakes
unsweetened cocoa powder

Preparation for cake:
Blink together yolks, melted butter an vanilla then add honey.
Pour apart levure, cocoa and flour, then add to previous mix.
Blink egg white until you get snow and gently pour to the rest.
Baking: 180°C (350°F) in already warmed up oven for 40 minutes.

Ingredients for decoration:
Once cooked, spread jam on the top (just a film) then snow coco flakes on it.
A pleasant variation is to make with a sheet of paper different sized stars and stencil it on to the surface dusting cocoa on the holes (see photo for the result).

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Tenerina Cake

Category: cooking - cakes
Also known as Montenegrin Cake, Montenegrin Queen Cake (in honour of Elena Petrovich from Montenegro, Vittorio Emanuele III's sweet bride with tender heart, Vittorio Emanuele was the italian king at that time), in Ferrara they call it Torta Tacolenta, a slang expression related to it's lite glueing internal that gets melted in mouth, giving delicious sensations to palate.

Ingredients for cake:		using a larger pan:
250 gr (8 3/4 oz) dark chocolate (50% cocoa) [] 100 gr (3 1/2 oz) sugar [] 100 gr (3 1/2 oz) butter 3 eggs 3 full-up flour spoons		330 gr (11 1/2 oz) dark chocolate [] 135 gr (4 3/4 oz) sugar [] 135 gr (4 3/4 oz) butter 4 eggs 4 full-up flour spoons
[]: see extra-dark* and milk chocolate note below

Cake preparation:
Melt butter and chocolate at Marie Bain (see note). Apart work with shaker sugar, eggs (yolk and white), then gradually add flour, work again, then add melted butter and chocolate and melt well with a spoon. Sleeve the pan with buttered aluminium sheet or use cooking paper, stretch dough on it to get 2 cm (3/4 ") thickness. If you don'have an adequate pan to get the correct thickness change the ingredients amount proportionally. Cook in an already warmed-up oven at 170°C (340 °F) for 30 minutes.
When still warm overthrow it, cut small tiles then snow icing sugar; once cold it's difficult to be cut (crumbles).
Tenerina Cake preparation

Note: Normally to get a softer cake yolk and egg white are shaked separately. In this case egg has to be shaked without separation because we want to get an unleavened creamy dough. This is the first secret of this cake.
Note: Should not be fully cooked: the best is when you get a lite crisp external that reveals a soft chocolate heart.
This is the second (and most important) secret of this cake. When just cooked has to look like still uncooked !. Please respect the indicated width, cooking temperature and time.
Note: Do not eat it warm it is important to wait until the external crust and the soft inside is formed.
Note: extra-dark lovers can use extra-dark chocolate.
milk chocolate lovers can double the sugar amount.

	optimal width and cooking
	Experiment that lead to bad result caused by 3 kind of errors: separately shaked yolk and white (notice the big bubbles), insufficient width (due to a too big pan) and excessive cooking due to reduced width.

Note: Bain Marie (also known as Double boiler or Mary's bath) is a cooking technique where one container with food to be cooked is placed in another, larger pan containing water that is at the simmering point. This method surrounds the food with very gentle heat and is used for cooking or just melting food like butter, chocolate ...
Boiling water guarantees a constant 100 °C (212 °F) temperature; to be pedantic this is true at 'normal' pressure levels (at sea level). Altitude variations slightly changes the temperature: less than 1 °C (1/2 °F).

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Choco Puff Rice bars

Very simple quick and tasty recipe.
Category: kitchen - cakes
Makes use of mars bars about witch some curious notes are available [see Mars bars Note below].
Very similar recipe: this one.
Ingredients:
170 gr (6 oz) Chocolate Puff Rice (ther's a variation with "beads" of maize, see note)
100 gr (3 1/2 oz) dark chocolate (50% cocoa)
50 gr (1 3/4 oz) butter
2 European Mars or Snickers Almond snack bar (45 gr)
(mou caramel and barley malt) [see Mars bars Note below]

Preparation:
Melt in Bain Marie butter, chocolate and mars; mix well.
Add puff rice (a little at a time) and again mix.
Spread on a plane at 1 cm (1/2") width and cut into portions when until warm.
Put in refrigerator and wait some hours (all night) long before eating.
Note: Instead of puff rice Corn Flakes or "beads" of maize can be used (100 gr are enought).
Puff maize from Mars

Note: spread on a low and wide basin or simply on oven paper using the preacution to keep a board below paper: that will be needed to move to the refrigerator.
Note: someone adds milk, but this makes rice gummy.
Note: to make yourself mou caramel, sugar and cream are needed, 1:1 proportion.
Warm-up sugar (cook it dry, NO water) until caramelizes. Warm-up apart cream, then pour all at once in caramel and mix well until uniform. Use a pan with high sides ! Source: http://www.cookaround.com/yabbse1/showthread.php?t=20135
Use a pan with high sides ! Source: http://www.cookaround.com/yabbse1/showthread.php?t=20135
Mars bars Note: a curiosity regarding Mars bars is that composition and name change in the different countries. USA mars bar is different from European one, the equivalent name is Snickers Almond but composition is different; in Canada it's named Mars Dark and covered in dark (instead of milk) chocolate. See Mars Bars for details.

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Puff Rice bars 'from Mars'

Very simple quick and tasty recipe.
Category: kitchen - cakes
Makes use of mars bars about witch some curious notes are available [see Mars bars Note below].
Very similar recipe: this one.
Ingredients:
170 gr (6 oz) Chocolate Puff Rice
150 gr (5 1/4 oz) butter
6 European Mars or Snickers Almond snack bar (45 gr)
(mou caramel and barley malt) [see Mars bars Note below]

Preparation:
Melt in Bain Marie butter and mars; mix well.
Add puff rice (a little at a time) and again mix.
Spread on a plane at 1 cm (1/2") width and cut into portions when until warm.
Put in refrigerator and wait some hours (all night) long before eating.
Note: Instead of puff rice Corn Flakes or puff maize (100 gr) can be used.
Puff maize from Mars

Note: spread on a low and wide basin or simply on oven paper using the preacution to keep a board below paper: that will be needed to move to the refrigerator.
Note: someone adds milk, but this makes rice gummy.
Mars bars Note: a curiosity regarding Mars bars is that composition and name change in the different countries. USA mars bar is different from European one, the equivalent name is Snickers Almond but composition is different; in Canada it's named Mars Dark and covered in dark (instead of milk) chocolate. See Mars Bars for details.

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Pasticcera cream

Category: kitchen - cakes
Base for other recipes.

Ingredients:
1 glass of milk (250 ml)
1 spoon of sugar
1 egg

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients starting from the dry ones.
Put on (slow) fire and keep mixing until becomes dense.

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Cocoa pasticcera cream

Category: kitchen - cakes
Base for other recipes.

Ingredients:
1 a (generous) glass of milk (300 ml)
2 spoons of sugar
1 spoon of unsweetened cocoa
1 egg

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients starting from the dry ones.
Put on (slow) fire and keep mixing until becomes dense.

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TiramiSu lite

Category: kitchen - cakes
Note: low calories, alchool free, coffeine free, ideal for children.
Tirami Su in italian means Bring me Up and refers to the presence of alchool and coffee; this lite version is jokingly called by someone Tirami Giu that means Bring me Down.

Ingredients:
vanilla custard cream (1 egg)
chocolate custard cream (1 egg)
chocolate flakes 50 gr.
dry cookies 200 gr. about
a cup of strong decaffeinated coffee or barley

Preparation:
First prepare vanilla and chocolate pasticcera cream. You can shorten the preparation time by using instant pasticcera cream.
In a low, large and rectangular shaped pan put a uniform layer of rectangular shaped dry cookies, leaving them intact. Better if both pan and cookies have a rectangular shape: they can be aligned without spaces. Plunge them into warm coffe (or barley) before placing in pan: they must be wet but pay attention to not dissolve.
Pour a (thin) layer of chocolate pasticcera cream.
Put another cookies layer on to the pasticcera cream, reserving them same procedure: plunge them into warm coffee ....
Pour on it a (thin) layer of vanilla pasticcera cream.
Snow chocolate flakes on it.
Leave to rest in the refrigerator for almost 4 hours: cookies have to become wet with coffe and cream. Best served chilly. The only cooking is for the cream.
Note: you can revert vanilla and chocolate cream layers and at end snow white chocolate.
TiramiSu cookies

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Palacinke - Palačinke - Palatschinken - Crêpes

Category: kitchen - cakes or savoury pies
Preparation is easy but cooking requires a discrete experience.
Suited for both sweet and savoury fillings.
We learnt this recipe from Mrs Anna from Cres Croatia.
It's well known in Austria and all over Eastern Europe. It's nothing else then Crèpes or PanCakes very thin and rolled with a filling. It seems they are originary from Romania. See WikiPedia for further details.
Another recipe that uses near the same base ingredients is Kaiserschmarren.

Ingredients:
600 gr milk
300 gr wheat flour
water (see below)
1 egg
6 teaspoon sugar (for sweet fillings) or
1 bit salt (fro savoury fillings)

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients in a pot (getting helped by a mixer).
You will get a near liquid paste.
And now the tricky part. The mix will require some water to get it more liquid, but as density is a very critical factor you will need to proceed with some tries: first palacinke will result unpresentable.
WarmUp a frying pan and pour some oil drops (preferably use peanuts-oil thanks to its high smoke-point) and uniformly spread on pan with the aid of kitchen paper. Pour some paste using a ladle and tilt pan to help it uniformly spread out. Turn palacinka upside-down as soon as possible (with the aid of a tongue) to let cook the other side too. At end you will have cooked twice each side.
You will probably need to add a glass of water before you find-out the perfect consistence.
Now and then, before making a new palacinka cleanup pan from residues by using the same previous oiled paper.

Filling Preparation:
Draft a thin filling layer: cream, chocolate cream, jam (better if peach, apricot, strawberry maybe combined with minced nuts) or savoury filling as spinaches, cheese, ...
Roll. In case of sweet filling snow some sugar. As palacinke taste is very delicate and neutral, you are suggested to match with a firm taste filling.

	paste, near liquid
	lubricate pan with fery few oil and make it uniform by using paper
	pour paste tilting pan to easy a uniform distribution
	pour paste tilting pan to easy a uniform distribution
	Palacinka ready to be turned upside-down
	turn upside-down with the help of a tongue
	just cooked
	filling and rolling
	ready to be eaten

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Kaiserschmarren

Category: kitchen - cakes
Preparation is very easy, it's just a sliced crêpe (pancake), enriched with sugar and jam.
It' diffused all over the ex Austro-Hungarian empire.
The name translated in english means dell'Emperor (Kaiser) sweet crêpe (schmarren). Someone say it was born due to a mistake of the Royal cook: one day Emperor Francis-Jopseph directed for a crêpe but cook, very busy preparing other dishes, scorched and broken it while turning upside-down. As he had not the time to make a new one he cut it in small slices and then enriched with sugar and jam, to hide scorches. Obviously the dish had a lot of success.
Here is recipe from Mrs. Ilda from Alto Adige.
Another recipe that uses near the same base ingredients is Palacinke.
By the way, cats do love Kaiserschmarren:

Ingredients (for 2 persons):
5 eggs
400 ml milk
300 gr wheat flour
melted butter (for cooking)
note: no sugar, no salt at this stage

Preparation:
Blend (getting helped by a mixer) all the ingredients in a basin. Mixture will result liquid.
Someone separates yolks and whites and wisk whites, but as the crêpe does not need to leaven, this operation results unuseful.
Warmup a pan and melt some few butter, drop some (half) mixture; when well cooked turn it upside-down and complete cooking.
You can turn by making use of a dish as temporary support.
Slice with scissors in small and short stripes.

Filling:
Put in a dish and snow some sugar.
Serve with, apart, apple pourea, redcurrant jam, blueberry jam, wildberries jam.
This way each guest can choose and dose amounts following individual tastes.
Have a nice meal !

	liquid mixture
	oil pan with butter
	pour mixture
	cooking
	turn upside-down with the help of a dish
	cut stripes with scissors
	sliced

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Buckwheat Cookies

Category: kitchen - cakes

Ingredients:
150 gr (5 1/4 oz) buckwheat flour
150 gr (5 1/4 oz) wheat flour
1 egg
100 gr. (3 1/2 oz) butter
6 milk spoons
150 gr. (5 1/4 oz) cane sugar
1 cakes yeast dose

Preparation:
Soften butter (warm it up). Melt egg, sugar, butter and milk. Gradually add flours and at end yeast.
Melt until you have an homogeneous paste, work at hand for some minute. Make a ball and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Extend on a plane 1/2 cm width, then cut cookies with some stencils and put on the baking tin. Dust cane sugar before ovening.
Cook in already warmed-up oven at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes.
Impasto Biscotti al Grano Saraceno

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Tea Lemonade

Category: kitchen - drinks
very refreshing drink with lery low calories amount.

Ingredients:
2 liets (possibly not chlorinated) water
1 tea bag
3 big or 5 small lemons (200 cc abt juice required)
4 teaspoon sugar

Preparation:
Warm-up water in a bowl. When boiling switch off and immerse tea bag. Let infuse for one to two hours long.
Then add lemon juice (200 cc abt) and sugar.
Filter, put in a bottle or carafe and keep in refrigerator.
Serve fresh. Keep in refrigerator.

Note: add lemon juice after tea has returned back to ambient temperature; lemon contains thermo-labile vitamins.
Note: instead of tea you can use your favourite infusion.
Note: an alternate, natural and effective preparation is to infuse tea at ambient temperature instead of warming-up water; this will increase the infusion time to 8 hours long. Thermo-labile moleculas will not be damaged by heat and you will get a taster tea !.
Tea Lemonade, preparation

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Vin brulé - Mulled wine

Mulled wine - Glögg - Glühwein - Vin chaud

Flaming Mulled wine - Glögg - Glühwein - vin chaud

Category: kitchen - drinks
Warm drink easy to be prepared and diffused all over Europe.
It is named: Glögg in Nothern europe, Glühwein ("glowing wine") in german, Vin chaud ("hot wine") in french ...
The italian name is french: Vin brulé that means "burnt wine" in french.
It is a tipical Christmas drink often served with Gingerbread.
The oldest offical document speaking of this drink is around 1420 in Germany.
See Wikipedia to get more information.

Ingredients:
1/2 liter red wine, possibly firm (f.i. Sangiovese)
1 apple
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 spoon full-up of cane sugar
1 limon

Preparation:
Put in a pan wine, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Peel apple, pierce the 3 cloves and add to pan.
Warm up and wait until boiling.
Fire up wine with a match.
Wait until flame disappares then remove from stove, filter and serve still hot.

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Apfelschorle (sparkling apple juice drink)

Category: kitchen - drinks
Diet drink very easy to be prepared.
The german name means exactly spritzy apple juice: apfel=apple e schorle=spritzer.
Taste depends entirely on apple juice quality: see note.

Ingredients:
1 parts apple juice (see note about quality)
1 part sparkling water (better if strongly bubbling)

Preparation:
Fill up a glass 1/2 with juice and 1/2 with sparkling water.
Can change proportions as you like.
Serve chilly (10-15 °C / 50-60 °F).

Note:

Only use high quality juice, I suggest first class turbid natural apple juice available from some producers, see photo (company name missed to avoid advertising).
To be clear, apple juice you can find at the supermarket coming from concentrated strongly diluted and perfectly transparent is not suited, you risk a flop.
Anyway do not use sweetened juice, apple is by itself sweet.
Serve fresh or at ambient temperature, iced looses taste.

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Lattella (milk and fruit juice drink)

Category: kitchen - drinks
Note: refreshing and energizing drink

Ingredients:
milk whey or fresh whole milk
fruit juice (different types are ok, see below), possibly unsuitened

Preparation:
Fill-up a glass with half milk and half juice.
Can use ananas, tropical fruits, peach juice.
With peach the best is to add some tea.
Milk has to be whole, fresh and high quality.
Mix well. Serve chilly.
Note: the original recipe requires milk whey, if you make cheese you know how to get it.
Industrially produced (see official site).
Can be bought in some supermarkets (Austria and Alto Adige).

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Ice-creamed barley drink

Category: kitchen - drinks
Note: digestive drink

Ingredients:
barley drink
hazelnut ice-cream

Preparation:
Prepare hald cup of barley drink as you like (drink must be near boiling), sweeten as you like. I make it with 2 spoons of soluble barley, melt in a very few water to avoid lumps. Then add near boiling water until half cup, always melting.
Then add a big ice-cream ball until the cup full-up.

Note: instead of barley drink can use coffe.

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