Limoncello Zabaione

My mother told me that to make zabaione one must measure the marsala wine with the egg shell. I.e., for every egg yolk use 1 tsp of sugar and the broken eggshell of the same egg for the marsala. 

And it works, but for this zabaione I wanted to finish the end of a bottle of limoncello. Half an eggshell would it been too much!! So I just used a third of that. Hand beat the egg yolks, with the sugar, then put over a pot at Bain Marie (double booking) and keep beating, adding the limoncello little by little. Keep beating until the 'custard' is light and foamy. Pour into shot glasses (won't need any bigger, I can assure you, it is sweet, decadent and … alcoholic!).

The verdict? Although the taste was great and lemony (taking away that 'egg edge'), the small amount of liquid made this zabaione quite firm! Next time I may water down the limoncello, and go back to the eggshell measuring cup!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Elderberry Flowers Syrup and Elder flower Tea

Yesterday I posted these Elderberry Flower Fritters, and today I have another recipe (and a half) that you can make with elderberry flowers:

Elderberry Flowers Syrup

For this you will need 1 l of water, 1 kg of sugar, about a dozen elderberry flower heads, 30 g of citric acid and 3 organic lemons (I picked some juicy organic lemons from Regina's garden). 

Wash and cut the lemons and put them in a pot with all the other ingredients (or in a large jar, if you have it). Let this mixture stand for three days, stirring from time to time. Don't go over three days or it may ferment. After this time filter the syrup through a muslin cloth, squeezing the lemons and flowers well. Boil the filtered syrup for 5 minutes, removing any possible scam forming at the top. Cool down and filter again, through a finer cotton cloth this time. 

Bottle and use as a cordial (it is very thirst-quenching), or to flavour desserts (like panna cottaor blamanche), ice cream, fruit salads and berries.

Elder flower Tea

I am drying the remaining flowers for tea. Dry them in the shade and keep them for winter: the tea is traditionally used to relieve cold and flu, cough and sore tummy.

To learn more about foraging and eating flowers and wild plants in New Zealand come to our Slow Food event on November 24th, click here to find out where and when.

Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Win a bottle of Sovrano Limoncello!

Dear readers, I like to share with you this competition, especially if you like lemons and limoncello!!
Go to Sovrano Limoncello facebook Page, like and share the Sovrano Limoncello at the Festival Italiano 2013 post, and be in the draw to win a 500ml bottle! Open to NZ residents only.

Good luck!
Alessandra

Panna Cotta with Rangpur agar agar topping

Yesterday I posted about this citrus fruit, which I believe to be a Rangpur "lime" (technically not a lime!). And as promised, here is the recipe:

Panna Cotta with Rangpur agar agar topping

ingredients

500 ml cream (if you are Vegan use Coconut cream, I am sure that it would go very well with this citrus topping!)

2 tbsp sugar

1 level tsp agar agar

for the topping

4 Rangpur limes

2 tbsp sugar

Water

Half level tsp agar agar

Bring the cream to the boil with the sugar and agar agar, simmer until the sugar and agar agar  have dissolved (about one minute) stirring constantly, then pour into some glasses (I used different glasses, Martini and grappa mainly, since I hardly use them to drink with I thought it would be nice to show them off with a dessert!). Let the panna cotta cool down completely, and set. In the meantime separate the Rangpur segments into a bowl and remove all pips. Add 2 tbsp of sugar and let them rest at room temperature (in the sun if possible) and covered for an hour or two to dissolve the sugar and make some juice. Then put the segments and juice in a measuring jag and add water to take the Rangpur mixture  up to 300ml. Add half level tsp of agar agar and bring to the boil. Pour over the panna cotta and let it set at room temperature before refrigerating until serving time.

PS, don't forget to keep the peels and click here for a fragrant citrus bath idea!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Rangpur, not Tahitian limes

Sue brought me some organic citrus fruit from a friend's garden in Coromandel, she told that they were Tahitian limes. I heard this before in NZ, I think that this is the common name here, but they don't look like limes, more like yellow mandarins, and they taste a bit like grapefruit. So I did a quick search and found that they probably are Rangpur, a cross between a mandarin and a lemon.

What to do with them? Well, I read that they are great for gin and tonic (maybe this is why they call them limes), but usually I only drink gin and tonic when I go to other people's houses (a very common pre-dinner drink in NZ), and I wanted to cook with them. If I find the time I will post a recipe tomorrow, for now I can just tell you that I had a good use for the peels: I put them in a gauze and tied it up to make a gigantic 'tea bag' to put in my hot bath. The fragrance is divine, a bit like a bath with the Japanese yuzu fruit, very citrusy and full of 'zest'.

Please let me know if you know this fruit, and what you do with it.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Bergamot Cupcakes, and eclipse

The other day I bought a jar of candied Greek Bergamot peels in syrup, they looked really attractive and bergamot oranges are not something that seem to be well known in New Zealand (even if many here drink Earl Grey tea!). I confess of having eaten some just by themselves (a bit of an indulgence really), but mostly they are perfect for topping cakes (and cupcakes). 

Bergamot Cupcakes

Ingredients

120 g butter

3 eggs

130 g sugar

1/2 tsp lemon zest

200 g self-rising flour

60 ml milk

Topping:

Bergamot orange peels in syrup

Makes 12 cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line a 12-muffin tray with cupcakes paper cups.

Melt the butter in a jug, either in the microwave or in the oven (while the oven is warming up for the cupcakes). Place the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk, using an electric beater, until the mixture looks light and pale yellow in colour. Slowly add the melted butter and the lemon zest. Keep beating at a low speed now; add half of the flour followed by half of the milk. Add the rest of the flour and milk and keep beating making sure that there are no lumps. Divide the mixture between the 12-cupcake cases.

Bake for about 18-20 minutes, until golden brown at the top. You can also check by inserting a toothpick into the cupcakes: if it comes out clean the cupcakes are ready. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and let them cool down. Brush a little bergamot syrup on top of each cupcake and the top with one piece of bergamot peel (I had to cut my peels as they looked to big for the cupcakes). Simple and delicious!

Did you see the eclipse today?
Pity that it is cloudy, but definitely everything
looks a bit strange, and the light is so unusual.
Max is watching it as school with special glasses,
I wish I had them to now, but instead I just took
a photo which probably doesn't says much,
but looks very cool! Let me know if you have
some good pictures!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Oranges and lemons

And grapefruits, and mandarins too! Check out the new issue of Little Treasures Magazine for four pages full of citrusy ideas! The recipes are perfect to keep up that vitamin C intake, so essential in winter for Mums and the little ones!

   

Food styling and props for a photo shoot

Usually I don't like to 'over-style' or use too many props. Like for ingredients often less is best (unless you are making lasagne!) and when I can I want to ingredients to be 'the props', especially when they are beautiful fruit and veggies! Where did these 'ingredients/props' end up? I will let you know tomorrow! For now I just wanted to show you the pictures I took (very quickly) with my iPhone, I hope that my photographer Sean will think that I am getting better!

Photos  by Alessandra Zecchini ©