Focaccia made with the water from mozzarella and no yeast

I saw it done several times in Italian blogs, and since the other day I had some mozzarella from Massimiliano I wanted to try it too. I think that I will need to work on it but as a first attempt it was brilliant and I will never throw away the water from mozzarella again!! Please read carefully because I think that some of you may be really interested in this one!

I had 200 ml of mozzarella water (you know that whitish water that you get in the bag when you buy mozzarella? Yes, that one!), I put it in a 900ml yogurt container, then I added 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, one pinch of salt, 1/3 tsp of brown sugar and 200 g of high grade flour. I though that it was wise to start with an equal water to flour ratio. I stirred the lot with a fork and covered it. I didn't expect it to rise so much, after 24 hours it was doubled! Maybe it is because I covered it with a good top? I decided to put it in the fridge overnight to slow the process, but the morning after the dough had gone down :-(. Still, half a morning in the sun and it was already bubbly again!

Just look at it! I thought that it could have handled a bit more flour, but I didn't really have time to experiment, so I poured it directly on a baking tin, without touching it! 

Then I placed it inside the cold oven for a couple of hours to see if it was going to rise some more, but it was too soft, it just spread out instead!! So I turned the oven on and baked it. When I thought that it was nearly done I brushed it with olive oil and added some rock salt and cumin seeds on top and then baked it for other 5 minutes.

I think that it is too early for me to give you a proper recipe for this, I am not quite sure how long it is best to bake it for, but one thing is sure: Please do try and experiment!! Don't through the water from the mozzarella away, it is an amazing starter for a sour dough type of bread and focaccia, especially if you are like me and don't fancy keeping a sour dough starter going for months and months (sorry sour dough, I travel too much for this!). Look at the cut focaccia! It was so soft and tasty... I will make it again and again and if you try I am sure that you will be pleased too!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Chocolate and cardamom pudding with berries, and over 3,000 views

Yesterday Google recorded 3,228 page views, a new record for me, and interestingly over 2,000 views were from the UK (which is usually 4th or 5th in the audience statistics). Once again most viewed post was this one, but the Turkish delights also did well, as did all the recent Xmas posts. Of course it could simply be a robot that checks every single page and steals recipes, but never mind, it is lovely to top the 3,000 mark, and by more that 200 too!

And now to the recipe, nothing to it really, but I like chocolate with cardamom and berries, and the kids loved the glasses!!! These are quite cute grappa glasses that sit on the side and can roll around like a spinning top, in fact I don't use them much because they are quite wobbly, but they do give that 'ship-in-a-bottle' feel to food, and are perfect for verrines and fancy dinners.

I made a chocolate cream with one egg, 1/2 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 50 g dark chocolate and 250 ml milk. In the end I added a few seeds of cardamom. I poured the chocolate pudding into the glasses and when it was cold I added raspberries, strawberries and other berries... but I have to say that this part wasn't that easy, I should get myself some long and skinny tongs!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Christmas recipes and ideas

Here are some recipes and ideas for Christmas, please click on the captions for the links.

Classic Christmas

From top left clockwise: 

Mont Blanc Mille-fuille, 

Panforte, 

Vegan Panforte,

Strawberry and Balsamic non-alcoholic aperitif

Small Treats

From top left clockwise: 

Homemade Marzipan,

Marzipan Fruit,

Calissons,

Turkish Delights

Christmas 'Shapes'

From top left clockwise:

Star Biscuits,

Christmas Origami Decorations,

Christmas Biscuits,

More Biscuits

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Roast potatoes with red onion and thyme

Busy month this one! I wonder if I will manage to post every day like I did last December! Anyway, I have a lot of Xmas decoration ideas to publish and recipes too, this is a good one for the roast potato side dish (to accompany a Xmas roast, nut or other!). 

Cut the potatoes in small cubes. Chop one or two red onions, and some good olive oil and mix.

Place on an oven try lined with baking paper and sprinkle with salt. Bake on high for about 30-40 minutes, shaking the potatoes from time to time (I do this by lifting the baking paper). When the potatoes are ready add a few thyme sprigs and mix well (I like to add the thyme at the end, it will smell lovely!). I also like to use thyme with red onion, but sage could be a good alternative.

The kids have been busy with end of the year's performances, both had piano concerts at school, and then Arantxa had two dance shows (with lots of rehearsals!) and Max an ukelele festival. This Sunday they will perform in a play (Pinocchio) at the Dante Alighieri Italian society's Xmas party, you are welcome to come along!

Have a great weekend!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

White Christmas tree decorations made with fondant: this is easy sugar craft for Sweet New Zealand!

This year my main Xmas tree (I mean the big one, I have other trees too, like these ones here) is going to be all white. I have a few white decorations, mostly in cotton and felt, plus a few in ceramic, wood and glass. I also added ribbons and some white starfish, and the rest I decided to make. I started with some fondant decorations, and these are so easy that even children can do them. Just roll some fondant and cut it with cookie cutters. cut a little hole too. Let the fondant figurines dry for a couple of days and then hang with a ribbon or a string. I hope that you like this idea, and fondant is not expensive, from a pack you can get out tons of decorations!!! I am going to show you the whole tree once it is finished, for now this is just a little peep :-).

And because these decorations are sweet and even edible (I mean, I will not eat them, but technically you could, if you are into icing!), and because this is an original idea of mine (oh yes! at least, as far as I know... probably some Martha Stewart's elf have done them already) and because it is well suited for December....

I am entering this post in this month edition of Sweet New Zealand, the sweet blogging event for Kiwis, this month hosted by Lydia Bakes.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

More Xmas ideas: coffee and recyclable Xmas boxes for presents

This morning I popped by Sue and Dan for a coffee. While Dan was making it Sue showed me a photo in today's paper of a flat white (or was it a cappuccino?) with snow man and Xmas tree. I immediately moaned to Dan that I wanted it too, and guess what? He made it!! Of course all the girls at Sudan went ooohhh!! and we took photos! Are you good at decorating your coffee too?

And now another idea for an eco-Christmas. My friend Daniela gave me this set of Xmas boxes 2 years ago, they are made of cardboard and are very sturdy, plus they are beautiful, you don't need wrapping paper (just put a ribbon to secure them so that nobody peeps inside before Xmas), and all your presents under the tree will look stylish and professional!

The boxes come in different sizes so you can use them for a number of presents year after year after year... and to store them away, they all fit one inside the other like a Russian doll! Well, I think that this is a great idea, if you are keen on recycling!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Christmas decorations ideas: branches instead of pine trees

These small 'trees' are just dried brunches that I got from the garden: one is decorated with china birds  (from an art gallery in Alice Spring, Australia), and the other is decorated with wooden figurines and clay cookies.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Strawberries for Kiwis

I know that it will sound strange to the readers in the Northern Hemisphere, but now for me it is strawberries everyday! Mostly I have them just fresh or marinated with lemon and sugar, and I found that since I am very lazy at eating green kiwis, I have more if I add them to my strawberry salads.

If you live out west or drive by on your way to the West Coast beaches, stop at Lucy's (in front of Nola's) for a real fresh strawberry ice cream. Just be prepared to wait: it takes a while to make them! 

Last news for the day: check out the latest edition of Little Treasures Magazine for my refreshing and healthy fruit and vegetables recipes and ideas for the little ones, and also an article about Kiwi blogger Frances (The Bake Club) and her baby Tui. 

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Fresh As raspberries, lychees and feijoas dipped in dark chocolate

Usually every Christmas I make dried apricots, nuts and other dried fruit dipped in dark chocolate, but this year I am using Fresh As freeze dried fruit. The flavour is really intense, and the texture completely different, crispy and fresh! I used dried raspberries, dried lychees and dried feijoas. I had friends around and everything disappeared in no time. Most people preferred the raspberries, but I preferred the lychees and Max the feijoas. I did the mandarins already here, and I am pondering about the next fruit to try!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Quinoa and cauliflower pie, gluten free

I got the idea from this Italian blog and although I changed almost everything in it, I kept the main ingredients: cauliflower and quinoa. I liked this idea because A: I really wanted to do something else with quinoa that didn't involve a salad or a risotto-type-of-dish, and B: I had cauliflower.

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

1 small cauliflower

200 g feta cheese

2 free range eggs

Half tsp cumin seeds

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Wash the quinoa, then place in a good pot with 2 cups of water. I also decided to cook the cauliflower at the same time (save gas, flavour and nutrients). Cut and wash the cauliflower florets and place over the quinoa. Simmer for 20 minutes. turn the heat of and let it rest for 15. Cube the feta and add to the quinoa and cauliflower, mixing very well. Add the eggs and mix well. With a mortar and pestle lightly crush the cumin seeds and add to the mixture. Adjust with salt and pepper. Brush a terracotta or other oven dish with olive oil, them pour the mixture in, patting it down well. Level the top and drizzle with more olive oil. Bake at 180°C for 30 minutes. Let it cool down lightly before serving, so that it will cut well. 

Even better the day after, re-heated.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Capsicums with capers

Ingredients
2 yellow capsicums
2 orange capsicums
1 red capsicum
1 garlic clove
half carrot
1 small celery stalk
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more to drizzle at the end)
1 tbsp tomato puree
A little water
1-2 tbsp capers
salt to taste (if the capers are not too salty)
chopped Italian parsley to finish






Wash and cut the capsicums into thin strips. Peel the garlic and cut into two. Wash and chop the carrot and celery into small pieces. Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the vegetables, then add the tomato paste, a little water, the capers (rinsed) and a little salt (unless the capers are already too salty). Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time, and adding more water if necessary. Adjust with salt at the end, if necessary, and finish with some freshly chopped parsley and another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve hot or cold, with some nice crusty bread or bruschetta, or even to dress pasta.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Fan Mail

A couple of months back I posted about taking part to the Wordsmith tour of schools, it was a lovely experience, and lots of children got inspired to pick up writing as a career. Then last month the event organizers send me a parcel full of fan mail from one of the schools we visited, and I was so moved by all the letters, poems, cards and recipes that the students sent me! I was going to post this before but I am always running out of time these days, anyway, here are some photos.

Thank you Henderson Intermediate School!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Fregola with zucchini and halloumi

Yesterday I had another record page views: 2,060. Funny, as I don't have much time to post these days. The most clicked post is always this one, with around 1000 hits each month, so I though that perhaps the word halloumi is a good one to have :-). Well, regardless of which post is more popular of not, thank you all for visiting!

Fregola with zucchini and halloumi

Ingredients:

2 zucchini

1 garlic clove

2 tbsp olive oil

1 block of halloumi cheese

1 cup fregola pasta

500 vegetable stock

chopped parsley

lemon to decorate

Wash the zucchini and cut into thick strips. Peel the garlic and cut into two pieces. Heat the olive oil and the add the garlic, zucchini and the block of halloumi. Sauté stirring constantly and turning the halloumi often. When the houllumi start to become golden remove from the pan and set aside. Add the fregola and stir with the zucchini until toasted. Add a little vegetable stock, lower the heat and cover. Stir from time to time, adding more stock when necessary, until cooked (about 20 minutes). Cut the halloumi into slices and place back over the fregola, then add chopped parsley and lemon slices. Serve hot. If you don't have fregola use Israeli cous cous or risoni pasta.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Mountain pawpaw with lemon and sugar, and a Slow Food visit to the Grey Lynn Community Gardens

Yesterday around 20 members and friends of Slow Food Waitakere visited the Grey Lynn Community Gardens, an inspiring place. Our hosts were gardeners Fionna Hill and Lynne Walker and I would like to thank them for welcoming us. If you like to see more photos of the gardens and the Slow Food tour please click here.

The gardens have wonderful produce, and I picked this sweet smelling mountain pawpaw. To tell the truth the smell (very tropical) was better than the taste: it was really watery, probably because it rained so much recently. But when I have "watery" fruit I know that I can just add a few drops of lemon juice and a tiny bit of sugar, and then wait for a few hours. It works like magic! I want a pawpaw tree in my garden now! I kept some seeds, I hope that they will sprout!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Learn to build a Pizza Oven

My friends Dan and Kazuyo are organizing this very interesting class, so I am passing the information on if you live in the Auckland area and are interested.

Pizza Oven Building Class on Dec. 1st and 2nd at PineValley B&B

Grant Steven, known for his hand built clay pizza ovens is coming for two days
to teach how to replicate his large example that will be built in the outdoor 
kitchen at 48 Young Access, Silverdale (Dairy Flat on google map).  Please bring gumboots, your camera,
and some energy to get this hands on experience that will save you thousands
of dollars when you take the knowledge to your garden.

Where: PineValley B&B
                        48 Young Access, Dairy Flat, 0992
                        phone : 09-442-5701, or 027-9191808

When : 1st and 2nd of December (Sat and Sun) 
                        from 10 am to 4 pm.

Cost : $40/ day or $70/ both days (better to come both days to get the complete information)

Please bring gum boots and own lunch. We will serve snacks and drinks.