Double Entrance

Double Entrance, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

OVENROASTED EGGPLANT WITH OLIVE, CAPER AND CHILI STREAKS

I like living in Italy but I have to say that I am looking forward to our visit to Sweden, I can feel that I need to just melt in somewhere without immediately being classified as a stranger. Not that I am in any way treated badly here, quite the contrary, but it can be restful just not stick out too much now and then. Strangely enough, considering what I just wrote, one of the most important things I have learnt by living abroad for so long is how unimportant it is to which nation you belong and how dangerous nationalism can be. In my opinion this is but I think that if this planet is going to survive until its intended end, it is important that we think human, not nations. And that is why I love (food) blogging so much, we all reach out over the frontiers and find new friends from all over this vast world, without caring about nationality but about who the person is and if you connect on a personal level. So keep on blogging and reading blogs!

But now over to the food, Gluten-free Friday it is and today I am serving a delicious, yes it is, eggplant dish with few ingredients and not much to do before you slam them into the oven and that is about all I manage in the evening after another too hot day!





OVENROASTED EGGPLANT WITH OLIVE, CAPER AND CHILI STREAKS
4 servings

2 big or 4 small eggplants
8 tblsp black olives, chopped
2-3 tblsp capers in salt, soaked and chopped
chili pepper, as much or little as you want and finely chopped
extra-virgin olive oil

- Mix olives, capers and chili pepper in a small bowl.
- Divide the eggplants in two lengthwise and make long cuts into each half, always lengthwise.
- Fill the cuts with the olive mix and then put the eggplants in an oven-proof form, drizzle olive oil over and bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/350°F) until soft and golden. No salt is needed as both olives and capers are salt.
- Serve warm, tepid or cold.

Eggs

Eggs, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

PEAR, PEACH AND CUCUMBER SALAD WITH WALNUTS AND RUM-VANILLA SYRUP

I just came back from a kamikaze trip into Pistoia and now I feel as if someone have clubbed me down a bit if that is possible. To get into the car to drive home was like descending into Hell. It is at times like this I am happy to live out in the countryside on a hill side where the heat is less oppressive. But in a few days time we are heading north to Sweden where we will spend three weeks and from what I hear now, the weather is quite the opposite of what it is like here. So you can imagine that sometimes I feel like eating fresh food like fruit salads. Now if you pop in here fairly regularly you can't have missed my cucumber mountain and you will hardly be surprised to learn that I have made a fruit salad with cucumber in it. Cucumber has a nice clean taste and it goes very well with fruit too, I actually think that in this case, the cucumber lifts this fruit salad to a new dimension as it adds a nice freshness it. The addition of cooked bulgur gave the salad a bit of body and the walnuts some crunch.






PEAR, PEACH AND CUCUMBER SALAD WITH WALNUTS AND RUM-VANILLA SYRUP
4 servings

fruit salad:
2 peaches
2 pears
1 small cucumber
100 ml/ 0,42 cup cooked bulgur
10 walnuts halves
zest from 1 lime chopped finely or cut into thin, thin strips

syrup:
50 ml/ 0,21 cup rum
50 ml/ 0,21 cup water
100 g/ 3,5 oz sugar
1 pinch of vanilla powder (ground vanilla pods) or 1-2 tsp vanilla extract

- Start with the syrup: put the ingredients in a small pan and let it simmer until it has thickened into a syrup. Leave to cool.
- Cut the fruit into pieces, if the skins are thick peel them off, otherwise keep them as it adds a bit of colour.
- Peel the cucumber and dice it finely. Chop or crush the walnuts.
- Put fruit, cucumber and walnuts in a bowl, add as much of the syrup you want, the lime zest and stir. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
- Add the bulgur and serve.

eggplant

eggplant, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

GRILLED VEGETABLES ITALIAN STYLE

Grilled vegetables is one of those dishes that every Italian loves. It is a very common dish, especially during the summer and I am aware of the risk I run of posting something everyone already know and make. But I take that risk because I love grilled vegetables so much. I made only eggplants and peppers but usually I grill zucchini too. That trio is the standard ones that you find and the ones that turns out the best in my opinion. All you need are the vegetables, parsley, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and salt and it is very easy to make albeit a bit time consuming. I grilled my vegetables on the built-in grill I have in the kitchen here but when we lived in a student apartment in Sweden, we 'grilled' them in a skillet, like I did here. Or you can us a grill pan or why not an outdoor grill or bbq.






GRILLED VEGETABLES ITALIAN STYLE

eggplants
red or yellow peppers of some type, for example bell peppers. Choose peppers that are as even as possible, they cook faster and better then
a lot of parsley
garlic
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Chop the parsley and the garlic very finely and put in a bowl.
- Cut the eggplants into 0,5-1 cm/ 0,2-0,4 in thin slices, I suggest you do it lengthwise as it easier to grill that way. Cut the peppers in rectangular pieces. Try to make them as flat as possible, I usually press them down with the palm of my hand before grilling them.
- Grill the vegetables on both sides.
- Drizzle some olive oil on the bottom of a dish and sprinkle it with a little parsley/garlic before putting the first grilled slices there. Then proceed in the same way on every layer of grilled vegetables, sprinkle them with the chopped parley and garlic and some salt and drizzle olive oil over. Repeat until you have finished the vegetables.
- Serve tepid or cold.

Buttons and Golden Thread

Buttons and Golden Thread, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

BAKED TOMATOES WITH MEDITERRANEAN RICOTTA FILLING

It's pure Italian summer here now. Hot. Very much so. So please forgive me if I am even shorter than usual today (how I wish I was one of those who write long, interesting texts that just keeps the reader reading without them realizing that they read if you understand what I mean, you loose the sense of what is reality). But I want to share two things with you, one if the recipe below which is this week's Gluten-free Friday dish and the other is a link to some incredible, fantastic, mind-boggling photos that was sent to me by one of my great readers here, kudzu, thank you so much-I haven't seen anything as inspiring for a long time!



More cucumbers but you don't have to include them in this recipe even though I like how the freshness of the cucumbers and the bell peppers balance the creamy ricotta.





BAKED TOMATOES WITH MEDITERRANEAN RICOTTA FILLING
12 pieces

6 tomatoes
200 g/7 oz fresh ricotta
4 tblsp black olives, chopped
1 small cucumber, sliced and finely diced
1/2 bell pepper, red or yellow, finely diced
2-3 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
salt
black pepper, freshly ground
extra-virgin olive

- Divide the tomatoes and take out the seeds and the inside. (I often use these in salads if I am making one at the same time) Drizzle a little olive oil over and sprinkle with salt and then roast in a pre-heated oven (175°C/350°F) for 20 minutes or until ready. Or you can do as I do if I am baking bread at the same time, I put the tomatoes in the cold oven when I turn it it on and when it has reached the desired temperature, the tomatoes are usually ready.
- While the tomatoes cool down, mix the ricotta with olives, cucumbers, peppers, oregano, salt and black pepper.
- Spoon the filling into the cold tomato halves and they are ready to be served. You can add a little extra oregano on top if you want.

A ray of sunlight

Pear, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

PEPPERY POTATO AND TUNA SALAD WITH CUCMBER, PEAS AND MUSTARD DRESSING WITH HONEY AND THYME

As I mentioned before, my neighbour Virgilio is more or less drowning me in cucumbers and I work very hard to see an end to them. Me and my son eat them the way they are but the rest of the family doesn't share our love for cucumbers so I have to find other ways to use them in suitable dishes. Now cucumbers aren't that versatile really, zucchinis for example are far easier to use in food, I can think of at least a dozen ways to eat them and if I thought a little longer I would come up with dozens of others, but cucumbers are different. I will do a little research in my older cookbooks because I know they used to make some interesting things with cucumbers, like cooing them and such but until then I give you this potato and tuna salad where I managed to sneak in another of my cucumbers!





PEPPERY POTATO AND TUNA SALAD WITH CUCMBER, PEAS AND MUSTARD DRESSING WITH HONEY AND THYME
4 servings

dressing:
1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
0,5-1 tsp honey
1 small tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 tblsp apple cider vinegar
0,5 tsp salt
10 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil

salad:
8-10 medium new potatoes
250 g/8,1 oz tuna in olive oil, drained
1 cucumber
150-200 ml/0,63-0,85 cup green peas
black pepper, freshly ground and a lot

- Mix the dressing.
- Boil the potatoes, I like to keep the skin when they are new, in salted water.
- While the potatoes are boiling, cook the peas quickly, they should be just soft so they have that freshness to them.
- Cut the cucumbers in quartered, thick slices and put them together with the peas in a bowl and add the dressing.
- When the potatoes are ready, cut them into thick slices or pieces and add them to the bowl together with the tuna fish.
- Add a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper and stir well.
- You can serve this tepid or cold.

growth

Tea, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

PUFF PASTRY COOKIES WITH ROSE AND ALMOND PASTE FILLING

Rose scent make me think of old ladies, I know it is a stereotyped image but I can't help it. You know the Miss Marple type of old lady, especially the Miss Marple played by Joan Hickson, she is my favourite in the part.



When we moved here I was full of garden entusiasm and energy so I planted a lot of sweet smelling roses something I am very happy for every spring and summer. Old-fashioned roses are soothing for my soul and to be able to put your nose in the middle of one and inhale the perfume is a wonderful experience. I unconsciously close my eyes and try to feel all the fragrances notes. oh oh, I am getting carried away here. Anyway, I like rose scent very much and I like it in food too and I have a daughter who likes it as well so I made these cookies if you can call something made with puff pastry cookies, maybe not but I do it anyway. Almonds and rose is a perfect combination and I think I will use this rose-almond paste in other pastries and cakes.





PUFF PASTRY COOKIES WITH ROSE AND ALMOND PASTE FILLING
15-20 cookies

150 g/5,3 oz blanched almonds
75 g/ 2,6 oz sugar
25-30 drops rose oil, make sure it is edible
water
puff pastry ready to roll in rectangle(s)
1 egg
sugar to sprinkle

- Put amonds and sugar in a blender or food processor and run it until the two have become one, i.e. it has become a fine grained paste.
- Add the rose oil and mix well. If the almond paste doesn't hold together well, add one teaspoon at a time until you have a soft but not too soft paste.
- Roll the puff pastry rectangle into a tight roll and cut it into 1 cm/0,4 in thick slices.
- Tkae a rolling pin and roll out each slice to a very thinn circle or oval.
- Put about 1 tsp of almond paste in the middle, brush the edges with a little water and fold the circles over and press down the edges. Eventually cut around the edges to make the cookies better looking.
- Brush the cookies with whisked egg and sprinkle each with a little sugar.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (200°C/390°F) for 10-15 minutes or until they are golden.
- Leave to cool before eating.

Buildings

I have been shooting a lot of buildings lately for some reason, maybe I feel a need to gt more urban! All this nature and twittering birds are all fine but now and then I need another type of atmospheres. So here you have a collection of Sunday photos to look at, I hope they maybe inspire you to go out and take photos today!

La Rocca di Serrvalle P.se

La Rocca di Serrvalle P.se, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

EGGS WITH CUCUMBER AND BASIL MAYONNAISE

One of the few vivid memories I still have (I will not tell you why they are so hazed) of a visit to Paris with my best friend when I was 18 is that of going out to eat dinner in old, small and dark restaurants and always finding egg and mayonnaise on the menu. And I think we always had that as a starter because we had never had real mayonnaise before and just loved it. I suppose it is really out to make this but I honestly don't care, in case you care about things like this, consider it a retro dish and sit down and enjoy the simplicity of this brilliant little old-fashioned dish!



Mayonnaise may not be the healthiest of dishes but who said you need to eat a lot of it and if you make your own, you really get a far healthier mayonnaise than the one you buy in the shops, who knows what kind of fats they use and what additives they put into it. And let's not forget another really important aspect: the one you make yourself tastes so much better! And it is really easy to make once you got the grip of it! There are a couple of things you need to think of when you make it. 1. The oil you use. Be sure it tastes good and that it has not got an overpowering flavour. I use rice oil, alone or with a 1/4 of extra-virgin olive oil because it leaves room for the other flavours to come out but you can use any oil that you like. 2. Remember to add the salt before you start whisking the egg yolks because later it will not dissolve easily. If you do, you can always dissolve it in the lemon juice 3. Be careful not to add the oil until you have whisked the egg yolks and they have begun to thicken, if you add the oil too early, the egg yolks will not absorb the oil and it remains liquid. 4. You always hear that the trick to make a successful mayonnaise is to use eggs with the same temperature as the oil but I just wanted to tell you that I have made it with eggs just out of the fridge several times and the mayonnaise turned out perfectly fine anyway. But who am I to contend great chefs and old traditions - I was probably just lucky!
One of the great things with mayonnaise it that you can play around with flavours, here I used fresh basil to give it some summery freshness but you can use other herbs that you like. And it is gluten-free to so here is another of my Gluten-free Fridays!






EGGS WITH CUCUMBER AND BASIL MAYONNAISE

hard-boiled eggs
cucumber, peeled and cut into cubes and slices. Or cut into small balls.
2 egg yolks, as fresh as you can get them
250 ml/1-1,1 cup high quality oil (see point 1 above)
1 pinch of salt
lemon juice
20-40 fresh basil leaves, it depends on how big they are and how strong basil flavour you want.

- Put the eggs in a sturdy bowl that will not move around when you start whisking. Add a pinch of salt and start whisking.
- When the egg yolks has started the thicken, add a few drops of oil and continue to whisk. When the egg yolks have absorbed the oil, you add a few more but be careful not to add too much.
- Now the egg yolks should begin to really thicken and then it is time to start to add the oil in a thin jet (sounds stupid somehow but that's what I came up with. Any suggestions?), thin but steady!
- Go on whisking and adding until you have the ready mayonnaise in the bowl. Add the lemon juice, just a little at a time and taste to get the right taste that makes you happy! Some like a more pronounced lemon flavour, others want it more delicate.
- Chop the basil leaves really fine and add to the mayonnaise, mix well and there it is, basil mayonnaise.
- Divide the hard-boiled eggs in two, put them on plates and then add the cucumber. Spoon some of the mayonnaise over and serve.

The Street Light

the street light, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

Bread Baking Babes - Beirut Tahini Swirls

This month the Bread Baking Babes are baking something different, we have been swirling wildly in our kitchens to make these pretty wonderful Beirut Tahini Swirls. This month it was Natashya of Living in the Kitchen With Puppies's turn to choose what we were going to bake and she turned to the Middle East for inspiration, I am happy she did because not only did I bake these delicious swirls but I also discovered a new method of making bread with a filling! My tip is to make them pretty thin and I have to say that I liked them even more the day after when the bready part had dried and was a bit crucnhy! The next times I make them I will use a little bit less sugar in the filling when I make them with tahini, I will try some other type of sweet filling and I will also try them with a savoury filling! I completely fell in love with how the swirls are made, it is almost as if you inverted the way cinnamon buns are made and I love when my usual ways of thinking are turned upside down. Well it depends on what it is of course but when it comes to cooking and baking, I think it is just good for me. So I cannot but thank you Natashya for making me think and bake in new ways! If you too want to bake the lovely Beirut Tahini Swirls and become a Bread Baking Buddy, please check out Natshaya's post about the Swirld where you will get all the necessary information! And a much better directions on how to make the swirls than here!







Sukkar bi Tahin - Beirut Tahini Swirls
from Home Baking, The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition Around the World by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Makes 6 golden brown, flaky textured coiled rounds, about 6 inches wide, filled with sesame paste and sugar.

Ingredients
Dough
1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
About 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil

Filling
3/4 cup tahini
3/4 cup sugar

- In a medium bowl, dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water. Stir in one cup of the flour, then add the sugar and oil and stir in. Incorporate a second cup of flour, then turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 to 3 hours, until doubled in volume.
- Meanwhile, place a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles, if you have them, (or a baking sheet) on the middle oven rack and preheat the oven to 375 F. Mix together the tahini and sugar and stir until smooth. Set aside.
- Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Work with 3 at a time, keeping the others covered. Flatten each out on a lightly floured surface, then roll each out to a rectangle about 5 inches by 10 inches. Spread the top surface with 2 1/2 tablespoons of the filling mixture, spreading it almost to the edges. Roll up the rectangle from a long side into a cylinder, which will stretch as you roll to about 20 inches long. Anchor one end and coil the bread around itself, then tuck the end in. Flatten with the palm of your hand, then set aside, covered, while you fill and shape the other 2 rectangles.
- Return to the first coil and roll out gently with a rolling pin. Roll the other 2 out a little and then return to the first one and roll it out a little more thinly, and so on, until you have rolled each to a round about 6 to 7 inches in diameter. A little filling may leak out—don’t worry, just leave it.
- Place the breads on the hot baking stone or tiles (or baking sheet) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and flaky. Transfer to a rack to cool.Shape and bake the remaining 3 pieces of dough. Serve warm or at room temperature.



Check out the rest of the Bread Baking Babes to see how they swirled, 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)

Bouquet

Bouquet, originally uploaded by ilva-b.

COLD CHICKPEA AND GRILLED ZUCCHINI SOUP or ZUPPA FREDDA DI CECI E ZUCCHINE GRIGLIATE

I am really enjoying the RedBubble community and I'm happy I joined. I was even happier when I received the card with my photos on that I had ordered to see what they look like because the quality is excellent and my photos print really well so I can safely recommend them if you are interested in using unique cards of high quality. You can see some of the cards in the photo above and here you can browse the 144 photos I have uploaded so far.



Right now I am being flooded with zucchini, almost every night I hear my name being called outside the fence facing the kitchen door and hidden among the leaves stands my neighbour Virgilio with a bunch of them. Or cucumbers. I feel almost as if he has become my pusher but at least his goods are legal and healthy! But I really need to use my imagination to use up all these zucchini so when I wanted to make a cold chickpea summer soup, I immediately thought about zucchini and one minute later I was grilling the first slices!
This is my entry to this month's HotM, the theme is Budget Friendly (and heart healthy) Foods and it is hosted by Michelle.





COLD CHICKPEA AND GRILLED ZUCCHINI SOUP
3-4 servings

300 g/10,6 oz chickpeas, cooked
300 g/ 10,6 oz zucchini
1 onion
700-1000 ml/3-4,2 cups chicken stock
rosemary, preferably fresh and finely chopped
parmesan cheese, freshly grated, optional
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Slice the zucchini thinly length-wise.
- Grill the slices on both sides, either on a grill or in a grill pan.
- Gently fry onion and the grilled zucchini slices in a little olive oil together with the rosemary for a couple of minutes. Keep some slices for decoration
- Add the chickpeas and cook for another 2-3 minutes before adding the stock. If you want a lighter soup, add the higher amount.
- Simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- When the soup is ready you run it in a blender until smooth. If you want the parmesan, now it is the time to add it. Stir well and let it get nice and cold. You can obviously eat it warm or tepid if you want.
- Cut the zucchini slices you saved into strips or pieces and use them as garnish when you serve the soup.