Board game

pattern, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

COLD PASTA SALAD WITH HERB & LEMON MARINATED CHICKEN, GRILLED EGGPLANT, ROCKET AND CHERRY TOMATOES

There are certain things that are more summery than others when it comes to food and cold pasta (as it is called here in Italy) or pasta salad is one. I am a great fan of it because there is nothing better for a summer lunch and when it is hot, you cannot ask for a better dish. Well maybe a cold soup then but sometimes you feel like chewing something, don't you? One of the attractive traits of the pasta salad is that you make it into whatever you want - vegetarian, vegan, meaty, 'fowly' or even gluten-free if you use rice pasta or some other type of gf pasta type. You can use what you find in your fridge or you can lay awake in the night inventing gourmet versions of it, somehow I see very few limits to the varieties of pasta salads, it is like a tabula rasa!



Last week I made a pasta salad with chicken, grilled eggplant and peppery rocket, I marinated the chicken in lemon and mixed fresh herbs so the whole salad got a fresh, tangy flavour that was just what I needed to feel fresh in the sunshine!





COLD PASTA SALAD WITH HERB & LEMON MARINATED CHICKEN, GRILLED EGGPLANT, ROCKET AND CHERRY TOMATOES
4-6 servings

400 g/14 oz pasta
200 g/ 7 oz chicken meat
250 g/ 8,8 oz eggplant, thinly sliced
1 fistful of rucola/rocket/argula salad
20-25 small cherry tomatoes
2 tblsp fresh herbs, finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon
black olives, optional
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Cut the chicken meat into thin strips, put these in a bowl and add herbs and lemon juice. Leave to marinate.
- Cook the pasta al dente and rinse it immediately in cold water. Put it in a big bowl, add a little olive oil and mix, in this way you prevent the pasta to stick together.
- Grill the eggplant slices in a grill pan on both sides until they are soft and look grilled. Add salt.
- Drip of any excess liquid from the chicken meat. Before grilling the chicken, brush the pan with a little oil and then proceed with the cooking. Don't forget to salt the meat.
- Add chicken, eggplant, rucola and tomatoes to the pasta, drizzle olive over and mix it well. If you want add olives.

Sunday links

So here I am, Sunday morning, sitting at the kitchen table with the oven behind my back making that insane ticking noice every second that it started with when the device that lights up the gas flame broke down. I don't hear it any more but guests do. Peace reigns so I am going to post some links that I would like to share with you!

The first is site with Maggie Taylor's incredible art, I love how the site in itself works and the incredible atmosphere of her images. Take the time to explore it!

I came upon the photography of Bobby Neel Adams by chance and I love his Age Maps, they both delight and disturb me!



Now over to food related links, first we have these incredible Bento boxes

Then we have the FoodPairing site where you can explore new ways of combining flavours

and last I have a food blog I just discovered but will definitely follow, I really enjoy the photography over at Nourish Me!

Have a nice Sunday, I'll do my best to have one over here!

periscopes

periscopes, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

PEACHES IN LEMON, ROSEMARY AND VANILLA SAUCE

It took quite some time to get going but now I have finally found a place where I can sell high-quality cards with my photos on and later on this autumn I will also sell calendars for next year. RedBubble does not only provide you with opportunity to sell your work but it also is a thriving community with artists and photographers from all over the world. Anyway, I am trying to upload photos every day now so that you have a wider choice if you feel like buying some so it might be an idea to check in now and then to see what is new, I have added a link in the right hand margin to make it easier for you.

A short note to remind you that you still have several days for sending me your entry for this month's HotM, the theme is The best of June's Produce. I have got several really creative and healthy entries so watch out for the roundup next week!



But now over to the food, it is Friday and that usually means that I post a gluten-free recipe for my Gluten-free Friday series, I can't break this habit now so here we have a dessert with a slightly old-fashioned air to it. The fresh and tangy sauce with pieces of peach in it reminds me of my childhoods fruit soups but here I have turned it into a fruit dessert with a sauce instead.





PEACHES IN LEMON, ROSEMARY AND VANILLA SAUCE
3-4 servings

3-4 peaches with thin skin.

sauce:
100g/3 oz sugar
1 tblsp rice flour (now I wanted to use corn starch but I had run out of it so I used rice four instead, I think that you might need a bit less in case you use corn starch.)
0,5 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 vanilla pod, halved
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1-2 tblsp lemon juice
250 ml/1 cup water

- Cut the peaches in pieces with the skin on, I suggest to keep the skin on as it will give a lovely pink hue to the sauce. Put the pieces in a bowl.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a pan, scrape out the seeds out of the vanilla pod and add pod and seeds and then the water.
- Add the lemon juice, one spoon at a time, taste to get the tanginess you want.
- Bring the sauce to a boil and lower the heat and let it simmer, stirring all the time, until it has thickened a bit.
- Pour the hot sauce over the peaches, stir and leave it to cool down properly before serving.

self conscious (if you can be that without a head)

self conscious (if you can be that without a head), originally uploaded by ilva-b.

SICILIAN LOAVES or PANE SICILIANO

I usually don't post recipes from cookbooks on Lucullian but today I am making an exception, I will post my adapted version of pane Sicilian or Sicilian bread from the same cookbook as the Italian Knot bread, Pane. Il piacere di preparare pane in casa by Anna Gennari. I like this bread book a lot and as most of you either can't get it or don't speak Italian, I thought that you might like to get another bread recipe from this book.



I have adapted it a bit, not much actually and I have tried to bake it with two different types of durum flour, the rimacinato or the typ of durum flour that has the same feel as the one you use for making fresh pasta and which is the one the recipe asks for, and the finely ground durum flour that you use for bread, cakes and cookies. I have to say that I prefer the outcome with the latter type, it has a better taste and conistence but with that flour I suppose it is less genuinly Sicilian so the choice is yours. I also use a high gluten flour instead of a normal Italian 0 flour the recipe uses. You often find this bread with sesame seeds on top.





SICILIAN LOAVES or PANE SICILIANO (slightly adapted)
5 small ones or 2 big

750 g/3,2 cups durum flour, either rimacinato or the pasta type or the finer type
300 g/10,5 oz high gluten bread flour
550 ml/2,3 cups water
30 g/1 oz fresh yeast
30 g/ 1 oz extra-virgin olive oil
20 g/0,7 oz barley malt or honey
20 g/0,7 oz salt

- Dissolve the yeast in a little of the water. Add the rest of the water and mix well.
- Mix the flours and add the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Work the dough until smooth. It should be a pretty hard dough.
- Leave the dough to rise covered in a lightly oiled bowl until it has doubled.
- Divide the dough, either you divide it into 5 pieces a 300 g/10,5 oz or you make two.
- Quickly form the pieces into round balls, put them on a baking sheet sprinkled with durum flour. Cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
- After 15-20 minutes fermentation, cut a crisscross pattern on the breads with a sharp knife. If you want them to be covered with sesame seeds, brush the loaves lightly with water.
- Let the bread continue to rise to double volume.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (180°C/360°F) for about 40-50 minutes, you better check and knock on the bread to get it right.

Proudly presenting the Queen of Denmark (living in my garden, can you belive that??)

rose and buds, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

SNAP BEANS WITH QUAIL EGGS, MOZZARELLA AND TOASTED SESAME SEEDS DRIZZLED WITH MUSTARD AND HONEY DRESSING

Today I suddenly remembered that I now have been food blogging for 4 long years, not that they feel long but if I look back and think about me and my life then, I realize that a lot of water have passed under my bridges if I am allowed to stretch a saying in that bad way. The 14th of June I started my Swedish food blog Aglio e olio (resting for the time being) on impulse and I haven't looked back since. I wonder why I have continued for so long, I have seen so many food blogs come and go but there are also many that just continue to be alive and inspire, day after day, month after month, year after year. I suppose it is a matter of having found the right medium to express oneself through, I find blogs a really great invention - is there a better way to do self publishing on? It is easy to do and you potentially reach out to a lot of people, I can share my thoughts, recipes and photos with other people from all over the world, isn't that incredible?



So apart from thanking you, my readers, without whom I wouldn't have gone on as long as I have, I would like to say a big Thank You to Blogger that provides me with a great blogging platform for free and almost always without any problems, it is an incredible service! I know that a blogspot.com address is not prestigious but I just can't help it - I love Blogger! And blogging!

So this is for you who are reading this and for Blogger, a pretty celebration dish!





SNAP BEANS WITH QUAIL EGGS, MOZZARELLA AND TOASTED SESAME SEEDS DRIZZLED WITH MUSTARD AND HONEY DRESSING
3-4 servings

400 g/14 oz snap beans
12 quail eggs
250 g/8,8 oz mozzarella, preferably buffalo
toasted sesame seeds

dressing:
4 tblsp cider vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
0,5-1 tsp salt
12 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil

- Steam the snap beans.
- Put the quail eggs in a pan with cold water and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and leave the eggs in for 1-2 minutes more. Put the eggs in cold water before shelling/peeilng them.
- Cut the mozzarella in small cubes and put these in a sieve to drip off some of the excess liquid. Divide the eggs in two.
-Whisk the ingredients for the dressing or put them in an empty glass jar, put on a lid and shake shake shake!
- Put the beans, eggs and mozzarella on a dish, drizzle plenty of dressing over and sprinkle it all with toasted sesame seeds!
- Serve with a nice bread.

Some views of Rome

A few photos from my day trip to Rome, unfortunately the friend I was supposed to meet had to work but I had a pretty nice time on my own. It was hot and the sun relentless.



The opulence!



Big palaces wherever you turn.



And nuns.



The strong light makes even the shade different.



I took a stroll in the park of Villa Borghese.



I love how you suddenly get glimpses of new places to go.

don't we all feel like that somtimes? stuck and crumpled

traces of life, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

RICE CAKE WITH VEGETABLE AND MOZZARELLA FILLING- Gluten-free

If you didn't think of it you would not classify this dish as gluten-free would you? But it is if you use cornmeal instead of breadcrumbs for the dusting of the form. And it is a dish open for your own interpretation, I used the vegetables I had at hand but you can add and subtract just like you feel like and create new interesting combinations every single time you make it! Apart from having to turn on the oven which can be a bit trying when there's a heatwave on, the fact that it is good to eat cold/tepid too makes is a perfect summer dish!





RICE CAKE WITH VEGETABLE AND MOZZARELLA FILLING - Gluten-free
3-4 servings

340 g/12 oz rice, preferably risotto rice
4-5 full tblsp parmesan, freshly grated
2-3 zucchini
10-12 asparagus spears
1 big red or yellow bell pepper
1 onion
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
thyme, fresh if you have
200 g/7 oz mozzarella, take more if you want, cut into strips or cubes
cornmeal or breadcrumbs
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Cook the rice until al dente, remember that it has to be baked in the oven so it is good if it is not overcooked right from the start. Drain eventual liquid and hen add the parmesan and stir really well.
- Dice the vegetables and cook them slowly with the thyme in some olive oil until they have softened and have become golden.
- Grease an oven-proof form and dust it with cornmeal (or breadcrumbs), spread out half of the rice, press it a bit before adding the vegetables.
- Put a layer of mozzarella on the vegetables and then cover with the rest of the rice.
- Press down to make an even surface, brush it olive oil and bake in a pre-heated oven (200°C/390°F) for approx 20 minutes. When to top has become golden it is usually time!

straight on

straight on, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

PASTA WITH HOT SHRIMP AND VEGETABLE SAUCE

Tomorrow I am going to Rome to get a new passport, every time we have to renew our passports, they have changed the rules and now we cannot do it through the Swedish consulate in Florence any more but have to travel to Rome. I am trying to look at it as a day off but I am slightly anxious about having forgotten some important paper because in Sweden rules are rules and not like here open for interpretation. Well if that is the case, at least I will see Rome again and that is about time, I haven't been there for several years so if there is someone out there with some really good suggestions of easy to reach food related places, please leave a comment!
But now over to today's recipe, I don't know why I find this type of dishes so summery but I do. It must have to do with the sea and sea food.





PASTA WITH HOT SHRIMP AND VEGETABLE SAUCE
3- 4 servings

freshly cooked pasta
250 g/8,8 oz shrimps, fresh or frozen
3 medium zucchini, finely chopped or diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 tsp fresh chili pepper, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
4-5 mature tomatoes, chopped OR 250 ml/1 cup tomato sauce
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Gently fry zucchini, onion, garlic and chili for 8-10 minutes in olive oil. Don't forget to salt.
- Add tomatoes or tomato sauce and go on cooking until the sauce has thickened.
- When the sauce has reached the right thickness, add the shrimps and cook on high heat for a couple or minutes (or more) until they are cooked.
- Serve with the freshly cooked pasta. You can also serve it with couscous or rice.

ASPARAGUS BREAD-BREAD BAKING BABES

This month's Bread Baking Babe's bread is the choice of Lien from it is an interesting bread because I never thought about making bread with asparagus in it and I have to confess that I was slightly hesitant but then I thought that if Lien thought it was good, it most probably was as I trust her taste! And right I did because this bread was a nice surprise, the asparagus is a nice addition and goes very well with the walnuts and probably with the rocket too, I can't say because I had forgotten to get any rocket so I took the green parts of fresh onions instead and it worked very well too. The only thing I have to say about this bread is that next time I make it, I will not include the parmesan because I am not that fond of cheese in bread but that is my own personal taste and casts no shadow on the bread.



I made two different loaves, one with asparagus and, because I was alone with my offspring and they obviously refuse to eat bread with something green in it, another with wheat berries that I boiled in the asparagus and onion water and some chopped sundried tomatoes. That was good too. So I really have to say Notitie van Lien,Thank You to Lien for making me bake and discover a bread I never would have baked if it hadn't been for her! For those of you who wants to join in and be a Bread Baking Buddy, click over to Lien where you will find all the directions, both a more detailed description with tips on how to bake the Aparagus Bread and what to do to be a Buddy in case you don't know taht already!





Asparagus Bread (with Parmesan Cheese and Walnuts)
(adapted from: Artisan Bread by Jan Hedh)
2 small loaves

125 g green asparagus (if you can't find them, use p.e. spring onions, cramps, ...)
25-30 g rocket
50 g walnuts,
50 g freshly grated parmesan cheese
450 g strong bread flour (you can also use half whole wheat and half white or white whole wheat if you can get that)
12 g fresh yeast or 1 1/4 tsp dry instant yeast
250-270 g water
25 g olive oil
10 g (sea) salt

- Boil 3/4 liter of water with a pinch of (sea) salt. Clean the asparagus, set two of them aside, cut the rest into 4 pieces. Boil these pieces for 2 minutes in the water, scoop them out (so you can use the water for the rocket as well) and rinse under cold water (to stop them cooking). If you use p.e. spring onion, I personally would grill them or just sautée them in a little oil until they start to brown lightly, but other ideas on this are very welcome too!
- Put the rocket in the boiling water for a few seconds (until wilted), drain and rinse under cold water and drain again.
Press the water our of the rocket, chop it coarsely and but the asparagus into 1/4 inch (± 1 cm) long pieces, set aside.
- Measure the flour and yeast in a large bowl, mix in most of the water and knead for a few minutes (on low speed), add the olive oil and knead for 10-12 minutes. Add the salt and knead on medium speed for 5 minutes until very elastic.
- Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Work the asparagus pieces, rocket, walnuts and parmesan in with care so that they're evenly distributed.
- Place the dough in a greased container, cover and let rise for about 2 hrs.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Make round balls, cover with a tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Flatten the balls and fold into taut breads with slightly tapering ends. Lay one asparagus in lengthwise in the middle of the bread and press in slightly. Sprinkle with wheat flour and cover to rise for 70 minutes or until doubled. Before baking you can sprinkle a little grated cheese on the bread if you like (optional).
- Preheat the oven (preferably with stone) to 250ºC.
- Place the loaves directly on the stone. Spray with water (or poor some hot water in a metal container on the bottom of the oven that you preheated to create steam)
Lower the temperature after 5 minutes to 200ºC. Open the door after another 10 minutes to let some air in. Repeat twice during baking. (I forgot about opening doors myself to be honest)
- Bake for 40-45 minutes and cool on a wire rack.



please check out the rest of the Bread Baking Babes here to see what they made out of it, I know there are some nice variations! (They might not have posted about it yet though so try again if that is the case!): Bake My Day (Karen), I Like to Cook (Sara), Living on Bread and Water (Monique), My Kitchen in Half Cups (Tanna), Grain Doe (Gorel), Notitie van Lien (Lien), The Sour Dough (Mary aka Breadchick), Cookie Baker Lynn (Lynn), Living In The Kitchen With Puppies (Natashya), Canela and Comino (Gretchen)