Cous cous with Broccoli Romani

I am the very happy owner of a few brassica plants. I grew them from seeds, bought from the Kings Seeds catalogue, and now that it is spring I am harvesting the last brassica to make space in the veggie garden for other seeds and plants.

But does it get tiring eating broccoli and cauli every second day? I need more recipes, and I found that Enza from Io da Grande had a lovely post on cous cous, and that she was using Broccoli Romani.

Yes, I had some in the garden just ready!

Broccoli Romani from my garden

Enza blanches the broccoli with boiling water, to which she adds salt and olive oil, then drains the broccoli and uses their water to cover the cous cous (the pre-cooked type, of course) while she fries the broccoli with olive oil. Finally she tops the cous cous with the broccoli.

I followed her instructions but made a few variations: I only added salt in the boiling water, and then added a little olive oil to the cous cous before covering it with the broccoli broth. I covered the cous cous with a lid and waited 5 minutes and then, because I have a weakness for cous cous with lemon, I stirred in the juice of half a lemon and one tablespoon of finely chopped Italian parsley.

Also, I did fry the broccoli in olive oil, but I also added 4 garlic cloves.

Considering that the broccoli, garlic, lemon, and parsley came from my garden I only had to buy the cous cous, salt and olive oil for this dish. Even the water is rain water and comes from my water tank, fulfilling a few of my self-sufficiency fantasies!

And here the last image from my veggie garden, I know that it has nothing to do with the recipe, but it is such a good looking cauliflower, and apparently it is also Sicilian (so the seed pack says...), so I am gifting it to Enza as a thank you for her recipe.

Cavolo di Sicilia from my garden

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Some Japanese recipes from Slow Food Waitakere...

Yesterday Slow Food Waitakere held a wonderful cooking class, and by clicking here you can find some wonderful Japanese recipes, some Vegan, and some for meat eaters.

Money raised from these classes go towards community food projects, like school gardens and children classes. To support Slow Food please join us now!

'Chicken Soup' for Vegetarians...and a Ukulele Festival

Yesterday I went to the ASB Ukulele Festival 2009. Great day, my son was playing with the Kiwilele, and hopefully they broke the Guinness world record for the most Ukulele players playing all together at one time (about 1200...).

It was a sunny and warm day, but I woke up with a terrible cold, I could not breathe nor smell or taste anything. I rarely get a cold like this, and it is quite funny to notice how some people come up to me and say that I have a cold because I am a vegetarian (??).

Of course suggestions follow.

Some non vegetarians would say that this is time for chicken soup, but for a vegetarian the idea of drinking the water where a carcass has been simmering is enough for making you feel even sicker.

A vegetable stock is good enough for me, but I needed something more, comfort food... and protein. So, since I had bought some Chinese dumpling wrappers, I decided to make some tofu dumplings to go with the soup. Before leaving home to go to the Ukulele Festival I cut one block of organic tofu into small pieces, put it in a bowl and added three tbsp of Japanese soy sauce and one of black toasted sesame seeds. I left the tofu to marinate for half a day. Upon my return I added 1 tbsp of sesame oil, half a grated carrot and an handful of parsley leaves (I didn't chop the parsley, once cooked the dumpling parcels becomes quite transparent and it is lovely to see the different colours of the whole leaves and carrots strips running through). At this stage you can also add some chinese mushrooms, but I didn't have any.

I filled the round dumpling pastries with a little tofu, making sure to push all the air out when closing them. I used a little water to seal the dumplings.

This dose makes about 50 dumpling, feeding 5-6 people, or even more if it is just a first course.

These dumpling can be steamed and eaten by themselves with a little tamari or chili sauce on the side, but I like them in soup. I just used some vegetable stock from Rapunzel, and when I had my simmering bowl under my nose I added plenty of freshly grated ginger. Not only I could finally taste something, it was really comforting, healing and the perfect dinner for a bad cold.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Nga Waka o Neherā

The history of New Zealand is fascinating, and particularly fascinating is the history of the early settlements of Maori who voyaged by canoe (waka) across the oceans to reach Aotearoa.

ISBN: 978-1-877514-04-3

THE BOOK:

Finally back in print after more than five years, this is the essential reference work to the traditions of Maori canoes that voyaged to New Zealand – including lists of the waka, names of crew members and vessels, karakia and waiata, and maps. A must for lovers of history, students of Maori and nautical enthusiasts.

This is the second in a programme of short-run reissues of important New Zealand books by Libro International.

THE AUTHOR:

Jeff Evans is a writer and photographer who works for leading clients in New Zealand and overseas. An authority on Maori canoes, Jeff is also the author of Waka Taua: The Maori War Canoe, The Discovery of Aotearoa and Maori Weapons in Pre-European New Zealand, and editor of Elsdon Best’s Notes on the Art of War. Jeff lives in Waitakere City.

How to make sugar roses

Little sugar and marzipan roses, painted rather than made with pink-coloured icing, tend to look more like little porcelain flowers.

Ingredients:

Ready made icing and/or marzipan

Corn-flour to dust

Juice from berries to colour

Take a little piece of icing and press between your thumb and index fingers to make a small petal. Now roll it to make a rose-bud shape. Make a few petals and attach them at the base of the bud, leaving the last few petals open. You may need 5 to 7 petals for each flower.

Cut the bottom end off with scissors to make the rose stand upright (or lightly tilted, if you prefer). Place the rose on tray dusted with corn-flour and let it dry (possibly overnight). Repeat and make as many roses as you wish, making sure to take breaks and to wash your hands with cold water if your fingers became too warm to work the icing.

Plain and almond marzipan will give you white- and cream-coloured roses. For pink collect the juice from berries (frozen berries are good for this). Raspberries, blueberries and blackberries all produce beautiful dyes with slightly different hues. Use a clean art brush to paint the roses and place back on the tray to dry. It will take another day and night for them to dry.

Store the sugar roses in a tin for up to one month.

The following photos were taken by my good friend and photographer Sean Shadbolt

(the hands are mine!)

Slow Food Waitakere Gardening Class

Here are some photos of the Slow Food Waitakere

Gardening Class for Children, in the Slow Food Garden in Ranui.

Click here to read more about it.

Photos by Buffie Mawhinney

Borage Fritters

After fried borage flowers (done the same way as fried zucchini flowers), borage flower tempura (I use the ready made Japanese tempura mix) and borage frittata (I just add borage stems, flowers and tender borage leaves to a frittata batter), here are some very very very easy borage fritters.

Just pick the borage stems (only the tips with the very young leaves and flowers), make a batter with eggs and bread crumbs, dip the flowers in the batter and fry with extra virgin olive oil until golden on both sides. Dry on kitchen paper, add a pinch of salt and, if desired, drizzle with lemon juice at the table.

This time I also had a lot of sage flowers in the garden, so I added some to the mixture as sage goes very well with fried food. I also decorated the fritters with sage and borage flowers.

For more borage flower recipes click the label Flowers

What is the meaning of blogging?

I just read this post by Arfi of HomeMadeS, and it made me think.

What is the meaning of blogging, and in particular of food blogging? Arfi mentioned an 'IN' crowd, and possibly there is an 'IN' crowd, 'top of the range' bloggers, 'award winning' blogs (although I don't think I actually understood what they won, but maybe I am just misinformed...), but are we blogging to achieve status? More friends? Admirers? Money?

Maybe some of us are just blogging because it is fun. Maybe for me this is enough...

What follows is my answer to Arfi, and possibly my answer to myself.

Happy blogging to all

Alessandra

Ciao Arfi,

I try to understand what you are feeling right now, you know, there are so many blogs around, some are so 'professional' (? is this the right word?) that they almost look like magazines but you know what? Many often lack 'soul', and the sincerity of a home made blog (or my understanding of what a blog should be in the first place).

Some are so perfect they almost look scary.

I am not putting down those wonderful people who put a lot of work and creativity in their blog here, not criticizing, and actually praising those bloggers who are talented and/or who manage to pull together a community...

...and sometimes communities become cliquey, and other times visitors have no time, or are too shy to post a comment. I noticed this with NZ visitors in particular, they don't post, but maybe this is because I tend to know well some of my visitors so they send me an email instead :-)

Maybe what I mean here is that it may happen that some bloggers become 'competitive', even envious, looking at who receives more comments and visits, and this may leads us (consciously or unconsciously) to post things to impress.

Yes we should challenge ourselves and improve, could be with better writing, better photography, better topics, but we should always remain ourselves too!

You have a beautiful blog Arfi, come on! I have just included your link to my blog because I think this.

In fact I think that I am going to put a link to this post too, (including my reply) because I think that we should encourage people to blog because they enjoy it!!

If it becomes a stress, if it is done only to 'please' others, it will lose authenticity.

In a way I feel privileged that I can blog for free (thank you google :-) !!!!) and that I can come across bloggers like you. So chin up, I accept your glass of wine and look forward to more relaxing days drinking together and talking about food and life in general, like good virtual friends can do.

XXXXX

Alessandra

Artichokes

I picked some wonderful artichokes from the Slow Food Waitakere communal gardens, yum!! Usually I like to cook them alla romana, with garlic and parsley

(you can find the recipe, which appeared on Cuisine Magazine, by clicking here)

and I was happy to see that the recipe has been picked up by another New Zealand blogger, Arfi of HomeMadeS, here is her recipe

So my artichokes, cut and cleaned with water and lemon, and stuffed with chopped garlic, parsley, salt and olive oil, were ready for the pot.

Then I remembered my friend Enza from Io da Grande who posted a Sicilian recipe on an Italian Food Forum...but I could not remember the name of the recipe, just that it was very similar but with the addition of (I think) breadcrumbs. And so I did.

I simmered the artichokes slowly, adding water little by little to the bottom of the pot, until the outer leaves were easy to pull off by hand. We ate them with gusto, it was the very first taste of this vegetable for my father in law, visiting from Christchurch.

And as I had a few leftovers in the pot I scraped off the tender flesh form the outer leaves and mixed it with the soft artichokes hearts and their stock (the water from the artichokes makes a wonderful stock) and made a lovely sauce to dress pasta the day after.

The same sauce can be spread on crostini.

Beautiful Parma...and a few cities in the province of Reggio Emilia

Recently I visited Parma, and I thought that it was so beautiful that I had to return for a second visit after just a few weeks. I told a NZ friend about it, she was visiting Genova, and she took a day to go to Parma from there. She was also impressed, and thought that it was one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and with very pleasant citizens!

Founded in Roman times, the city had its heyday during the Renaissance period. Many buildings constructed under the duchy of the Farnese family, including the Farnese Theatre and the Palazzo della Pilotta housing the “National Gallery of Parma” still dominate the city. The National Gallery displays masterpieces by Correggio, Parmigianino, Leonardo da Vinci and

El Greco.

The city is elegant, clean and beautiful without being over-rated.

And there aren't many tourists.

Parma is also a city of culture, art and music (Giuseppe Verdi, Ildebrando Pizzetti and

Arturo Toscanini)

Impoverishing culture enriches ignorance

And Parma is a city of bicycles, bicycles everywhere, just wonderful!!!

I stopped for a non-alcoholic Mojito (based on fresh lime and mint) and the waiter brought to the table a vast array of free snacks (olives, crisps, focaccia, pizzette...); the French couple sitting next to me was impressed with all the free food "c'est beaucoup!"

I had my friend Luca as a guide for the Famous Teatro Farnese

(unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos)

and the Duomo Square

Antelami's octagonal pink marble Baptistery (above)

Inside the Cathedral (below)

I stayed in the beautiful Hotel Stendhal

in the heart of the city and near the Palazzo della Pilotta

My room...

... And the view from my window.

I also stayed with Luca's family, outside Parma (in Boretto, which technically is in the province of Reggio Emilia but it is close enough to Parma), so I had the chance to see also the surrounding small towns of Guastalla, Gualtieri, and Brescello, all gems!

But the most precious gem of all was Luca's mum! She cooked and she cooked like

only a donna emiliana can cook.

Here is the dough for gnocco fritto

And here is the final product....

...with a variety of cheeses for the veggie guests.

My husband and the children looooooved this!

And thanks to Luca's family I also made a very important cheese discovery:

Parmigiano delle Vacche Rosse.

And then there was fresh pasta, made by hand of course...

and ravioli filled with spinach...

and home made sweet pastries with home made jam...

and home made gnocchi...

Thank you guys, I felt like a Pope!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

SF School Gardens in Italy

In Italy I visited two of the school gardens of Slow Food Feltrino e Primiero with the Convivium coordinator Ornella Fadda. Five school garden have been created in the area, thanks to volunteers and to the local dairy, Latte Busche, who is sponsoring the project. Latte Busche is donating 2,500 Euros for three years (about NZ$5,000 per year).

The dairy distributes local milk and makes a varieties and cheeses, dairy products and ice creams.

Latte Busche most famous cheese is Formaggio Piave, made exclusively with milk from the Belluno area. This is one of my favourite cheeses!

And now to the Gardens:

I visited the gardens during the summer holidays, so I couldn't see the children and parents at work, but here, in the garden of the Vittorino da Feltre elementary school, in Feltre, I met with the school caretaker Gisella (in the photo), a keen gardener and the school staff members who teaches the children about gardening, and maintain the gardens throughout the year.

In the same school SF also planted an orchard, and I loved the palisades made with poles cut and painted like gigantic coloured pencils.

Then I visited the SF garden of the kindegarden of Anzù (the village where there is the famous Basilica Santuario dei Santi Vittore e Corona). The kindegarden didn't have enough land for a garden so a plot was offered by a neighbour, Bruna, and the children can walk from the kindy to the gardens with their teachers.

The children called their scarecrow Fortunato (Lucky) because they say that he is lucky to spend all his time among nature.

The principle of the SF gardens of this Convivium is that lessons are done by the nonni ortolani (gardening grandparents) and here is the Garden's nonno, Mario.

Extra produce from the gardens is sold in the local Farmers' Market,

In this photo from left: gardening grandpa Mario, Ornella of SF Feltrino e Primiero, Kindy teacher Roberta, and Bruna, who offered the land for the garden.

School has now started again in Italy, and the local Convivium is working with the school teachers. Three events are planned and November 11 will be the National Day of the School Gardens, celebrated with a tasting session of home made jams.

And in the future they plan a dinner based on pumpkin, with gnocchi, cakes made by the mums, and traditional songs from the children's various villages.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini e Ornella Fadda

Qualcosa in italiano

Il Palio di Feltre

Riporto un mio articolo apparso sul quotidiano australiano La Fiamma

Feltre è un’antica cittadina ai piedi delle Dolomiti, nella provincia di Belluno. Il centro storico è ricco di case e palazzi del 1500 e l’atmosfera è quella di molte città rinascimentali italiane: semplice e signorile al tempo stesso.

Ma la cosa forse più interessante di Feltre è proprio l’esser fuori dai percorsi turistici tradizionali dell’Italia, rimanendo quindi un piccolo gioiello tutto da scoprire.

Uno dei momenti migliori per visitare la cittadina, che conta circa ventimila abitanti, è il primo fine settimana d’agosto, quando le strade del centro storico si riempono di mercatini medioevali, dame e messeri in costumi d’epoca, tamburini e sbandieratori, tutti intenti a celebrare il Palio di Feltre.

Il Palio è nato per rievocare il momento in cui, nell’anno 1404, e dopo secoli di invasioni e guerre, Feltre decise di porsi spontaneamente sotto al protettorato della Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia.

I quattro quartieri della città che si sfidano per il Palio (un drappo dipinto ogni anno da un artista diverso e decorato con i simbolici 15 ducati d’oro dell’originale Palio quattrocentesco) sono Santo Stefano, Port’Oria, Castello e Duomo, e corrispondono alle quattro zone della città e frazioni circostanti.

Da pochi mesi mia madre vive nel centro storico, proprio nel cuore del quartiere di Santo Stefano, e quindi quest’anno ho avuto anch’io occasione di partecipare, non solo da visitatrice, ma anche da contradaiola. I tre giorni di Palio sono cominciati il venerdì con le quotatissime cene di quartiere, tutte per strada e a pochi metri l’una dall’altra, così da offrire l’occasione ai quattro quartieri di confrontarsi da subito culinariamente con arrosti su spiedi giganti, piatti locali, vino e musica fino a tardi.

Sabato le strade si sono riempite di gente in costumi nobili e paesani, mangiafuoco e giocolieri, soldati medioevali e bancarelle di artigianato e prodotti locali. La sera si sono svolte le prime due gare: il tiro con l’arco in Piazza Maggiore, e la staffetta, nel ripido centro storico. La domenica, dopo la messa in costume (con addetta benedizione dei cavalli) e due lunghi cortei storici, c’è stato il tiro alla fune, ed infine la gara più affascinante, arcaica ed emozionante di tutte: la corsa dei cavalli. Tutte le gare accumulano punti, ma il risultato finale è spesso determinato da questa corsa finale, tenendo tutti i contradaioli con il fiato sospeso fino all’ultimo.

Descrivere un Palio non è semplice: chi è abituato a guardare il Palio di Siena ed altre manifestazioni simili saprà bene di cosa parlo, perché le emozioni sono sempre altissime.

Son ben felice di sapere che i cavalli sono soggetti a rigorosi controlli veterinari, ma nervoso si è subito mostrato uno dei destrieri del quartiere Port’Oria (a Feltre ogni quartiere corre due cavalli, per un totale di otto) e due false partenze non hanno sicuramente migliorato la tensione del momento, per me inclusa che ho quasi sentito bisogno di un veterinario che controllasse a me il polso. La terza partenza senza botto, approvata comunque dal Messere, ha subito visto in testa il cavallo di Duomo seguito dai due destrieri di Castello. Il dorsante ombreggiato dove i due quartieri con meno punti risedevano si è risvegliato in un boato di speranza nuova ed io mi sono sentita compleatamente coinvolta, e parte vibrante di Pra del Moro, il campo dove corrono i cavalli. Sebbene a forza d’uomo le contrade vincenti fin’ora fossero state Santo Stefano e Port’Oria, il fato si è compleatmente rovesciato. Duomo ha mantenuto la corsa fino quasi alla fine, solo per venire clamorosamente superato da Castello, che si è aggiudicato pure il terzo posto, e quindi abbastanza punti per la vittoria finale.

Ho guardato istintivamente non le reazioni dei ‘miei’ contradaioli di Santo Stefano, ma quelle dei contradaioli di Port’Oria, rimasti fulminati da una sorte che è sembrata ingiusta ed amara, e con un ultimo cavallo che ha celeremente lasciato il campo sotto un’atmosfera cupa e desiderosa di spiegazioni. Non potevo che provare simpatia per i tamburini e sbandieratori giallo-neri, ancora increduli e ridotti al quarto posto, gli ultimi a lasciare le proprie transenne con il cuore praticamente infranto. Ma questo, mi dicono, è il significato del Palio, e tutte le passioni si devono vivere in pieno per capirlo. Santo Stefano si è dovuto accontentare di un secondo posto, ma forse sentito in modo onorevole e con una vittoria mancata solo per poco. Duomo, che ha vissuto, anche se per pochi momenti, quella speranza che solo una veloce corsa di cavalli può offrire, ha incassato il terzo posto.

Ma alla fine è stato bellissimo vedere le bandiere blu con il leone d’oro del quartiere Castello volare alte nel cielo di Pra del Moro, con lo sfondo proprio del simbolo di Feltre: il castello di Alboino, che guardava benegnimo i propri contradaioli.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Io...

First To Care

Celebrating 125 years of the Order of St John in New Zealand, 1885–2010, one of our most ubiquitous and vital charitable organisations.

Click here

Home Made Halloumi Cheese and Ricotta

It is easy to make Halloumi and ricotta at home, no special equipment required except for a cheese or brewer termomether. I started with 2l of milk, full-cream and not homogenized (unfortunately not raw...) In a large stainless steel saucepan heat the milk to 32C (use the termometer) and then add the rennet (animal or vegetable). I used 2ml dissolved in 2ml of cold water, but if you use industrial rennet you may need less. Follow the manufacturers' instructions. Let the milk set for 45-60 minutes, covering the pot with a lid and keeping the temperature constant on 32C (you may like to place the pot into a bigger pot with hot water, or wrap it with a warm towel). When the milk is set cut into 1 to 2 cm squares. If the pot is deep also cut across with a slotted spoon. Wait 5 minutes, then take to 35-38C and stir gently with your hand for 30 minutes, keeping the temperature constant. At this stage the squares will look smooth and lightly elastic. Wait 5 more minutes, then lift the cheese up with a slotted spoon and place into a basket or colander lined with cheese cloth or gauze. I used a steamer, which has holes in the bottom and sides. Cover with more cloth and place a weight on top (I used a pot filled with 2l of water). Let it rest for 30 minutes. In the meantime make the ricotta, which is a byproduct of Halloumi. Ricotta Heat the leftover whey to 90C, then add 1 tsp of salt and 1 tbsp of white vinegar. Gently stir and cook for 5 minutes. The foam forming on the top is the ricotta. Lift the ricotta up with a slotted spoon and place in a small colander lined with gauze. With my leftover whey I could just make enough ricotta for a Barbie doll, but it is fun to make. Refrigerate the ricotta for one night. Now cut the Halloumi cheese into pieces and cook in the leftover whey (after lifting the ricotta up) at 85-90C for about 20/30 minutes, stirring from time to time. The cheese will rise to the surface. Take the cheese slices out, add a pinch of salt on each side, and a little dried mint (optional) then fold each slice into two. Make a brine with 50% leftover whey, 50% boiling water and 10% salt (i.e. 100g of salt for every litre of liquid). Keep the Halloumi in this brine for up to two weeks, in the fridge. To cook: Halloumi can be cooked under the grill, in a frying pan or on the barbeque. No oil is needed. Lightly rinse from the brine and cook until lightly golden. Here with bruschetta and rucola (rocket salad).

Autumn in Italy: Chestnuts and Porcini Mushrooms

Casturia, the chestnut wood in Poggioraso, Sestola.

Peeling roasted chestnuts in the evening.

There are also porcini mushrooms.

An old stone chestnut drying house in the woods.

Tagliatelle with fresh porcini mushrooms.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©