A true summer treat - Sweet Apricot and Basil Toast

This is no lazy summer, oh no, I’m going back and forth between Tuscany and Milan, shooting part one of two Christmas catalogues I’m working on and on Monday we leave for Sweden, something I really am looking forward to because last summer we didn’t go and I feel that I need a bit of refuelling in my motherland now and then. Although I have by now completely adapted to being a person without any particular roots, it feels good to come back to where I was born and where I just can speak without having to search for words and without feeling that I probably am expressing my thoughts in an awkward manner. And where people immediately understand what I am talking about because we share the same cultural background (we have read the same books and seen the same programs when we were young, we lived through the same historical moments and happenings - I could go on with a long list of the things you suddenly realize are important for communication when you live abroad for a longer time) although there are now so much of new factors of cultural context that I have completely missed out on since I left 17 years ago that I feel like a foreigner at times. But above all, I am looking forward to see my friends, the ones I can’t do without in my life despite I rarely see or speak to them but by now we are used to that and being true friends, we don’t need to always be communicating in order to enjoy meeting, we just go on where we left and that it is.

The Christmas job is more fun than I thought it would be because this year we have had time to find appropriate props and think about the mood of it all; last year we had to shoot it all in record time and it is a freaking wonder that we managed to do it and that what we managed to produce actually increased the sales with 40% as I was told the other day! I’m shooting a more Scandinavian Christmas atmosphere and I am very happy about that and also grateful that I’m given such a lot of creative freedom as I am, that kind of trust really spurs me on to give my best and to do my best within the limits I am given because I obviously have to think in a more commercial way than when I work with editorial photography. And talking about that, this month my first job with Sale&Pepe is out, one of the most important food magazines here in Italy and I am very happy to be on that team as well. So as you can see, my working life is pretty good at the moment but that also means that my blogging life does suffer a bit unfortunately.

But I do have a really nice recipe to post, I have been sitting on it for quite a while now but now it is about time to post it otherwise the apricots will be out of season. You don’t need many ingredients to make this but that suits me (as you probably might have noticed here on Lucullian) because I don’t believe you need that many ingredients to make a really tasty dish.

SWEET APRICOT AND BASIL TOAST
4 servings /12 small toasts

10 mature and sweet apricots
1 baguette, preferably not too fresh
24 fresh basil leaves, less if the leaves are very big
sugar
salted butter

Rinse the apricots, divide them in halves and take out the stone, then proceed to slicing them thinly. Cut 12 of the basil leaves into thin, thin strips, try to keep each leaf separate to make it easier to compose the toasts later.

Slice the baguette into 24 1 cm / 0,4 in thick slices.

Start making the toasts: line up 12 slices of baguette, then put 2-3 slices of apricot on each bread slice, the amount depends on how thin the slices are. Put the basil strips on top on each toast and then put another slice of baguette on top and press slightly to make it adhere.

Melt the butter in a non-stick pan and start frying the double toasts until golden, taking them out and turning them in sugar that you have put on plate beforehand.

Decorate with a basil leaf, stick a toothpick through the leaf and the toast and serve!

Last Sunday we took a walk in Pistoia...

Simple and filling - Piadina With Sardines, Tomatoes, Goat's Cheese and Salad

ashtray

There must be hundreds of variants of the thin flatbread type around the world, piadina, tortilla well take a look here and you see that there are lots and lots of flat breads in this varied world. La piadina is an Italian version of unleavened flat bread that is typical in the Romagna region, it is easy to make if you get the right recipe although I have to confess that I actually bought these ready made because it hot here now and I avoid adding more heat to it if I can.

numbers

Anyway,  I wanted to make something with sardines because i have shamelessly neglected them of late. I used to love sardines when I was very, very young and I still like them a lot but I tend to forget that they exist. So to change that I bought a few tins and instantly forgot about it but the sardines obviously were swimming somewhere down there in my subconscious because a swarm of bubbles surfaced and made me make this lovely lunch sandwich thing, I don't know if I can call it a sandwich really but it does fill the same function so here we go.

PIADINA WITH SARDINES, TOMATOES, GOAT'S CHEESE AND SALAD
2 servings

2 piadine or tortillas if you cannot find them
soft goat's cheese or some other type of soft cheese in case you don't like it
1 tin of sardines in olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
small leaved green salad, I used lamb's ears salad or valeriana as it is called here
sesame seeds
black pepper
salt

 Spread the soft goat's cheese over half of the piadina, then as much salad as you feel like, a layer of sliced tomato and then add pieces of sardine fillets all over it all.

 Sprinkle salt, lots of ground black pepper and sesame seeds over it, fold and eat!

Sweet summer treat - Cherry Cake With Nutella Frosting

I know,  I'm as shocked as you are - two recipe posts in one week!? I can't even remember when that happened last time. But as I said earlier this week or at least I think i said it, I have suddenly got a lot of blogging energy so I just go with the flow as long as it lasts.  I have now been blogging for 6 years, I started with my Swedish food blog in June 2005 and this one in September that same year and I have no idea what it is that drives me on. Why do I still blog?  That first flush of blog love has vaned ages ago, that phase when all you live for is what you are going to blog about next, and I suppose me and my blog have now set in a stable old routine like an old couple. We, well more I, have gone through moments when I just wanted leave but with the help of my blog friends (and here I need to especially mention Kalyn who always been backing me up a lot in my no blog mojo periods and made me move forwards) I always kept on going. Now there are a few things that I find worthwhile in life, not many as most of the things we do and make seem extremely futile to me, and one is love and kindness, to give/spread love to the word around you makes you a happier person, I don't feel that I necessarily need to receive love though it is nice too, I think the biggest gift in life is to love. And why am I rambling on about this? Well I suppose that I think my blogging in a certain respect is about love; love for food, love for photography, love of communicating with you out there because I don't really care how silly it sounds but I can feel your kindness very much. I know I have some really faithful readers out there who have been following Lucullian for many years and I think that is the best gift I could wish for: kind and interesting readers and you really are that. So in the end I think I blog because of the food and because of you. And now I will not speak more on this subject, not today anyway because I am getting soppy.

 I made this cherry cake almost a month ago but somehow I never got around to post about it, too many sweets in a row so to speak, needed to blog about something healthy too now and then. Anyway, the cake met with a certain success here, and it is easy to make so I hope you will like it too. I used the frosting from these lovlies but substituted the sour cream with fresh ricotta

CHERRY CAKE WITH NUTELLA FROSTING

cake:
3 eggs
200 g/ 7 oz sugar
120 g/  butter, melted
150 g/  flour
1 tsp  baking powder
225 g/  cherries

frosting:
300 g/ Nutella
200 g/ 7 oz ricotta  or sour cream

 Pit the cherries and cut them in halves. Shake them with the flour, take them out and set aside.

 Whisk eggs and sugar white and fluffy in a bowl. Add butter and stir well. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and mix well.

 Add the cherries and pour the batter into a greased and breaded cake tin. Bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/350°F) for 25-30 minutes. When it i ready, take it out and let it cool down before you put the frosting on.

 To make the frosting all you have to do is to pass the ricotta through a sieve to reduce the risk of lumps  (not needed with sour cream) and then mix it with the Nutella. Cut the cake in two, spread half of it over the first layer, put the top back and then spread the rest of the frosting on top of the cake and decorate with fresh cherries or something else that you fancy!

A salad for every season - Potato Salad With Lentils, Baby Spinach and Walnuts Drizzled With Yoghurt and Mustard Dressing

I'm having a week of relative calm here, at least I am at home and working on bits and ends, photos to add and photos to post produce. This calm or maybe just the long creative pause I have taken here apparently has been good for me because I feel an urge to create dishes for my blog and though this used to be my everyday reality, it feels strange to feel inspiration for blog posts again and actually cook and shoot them, it's been such a long time since that happened. But I can tell you that it feels good, very good indeed. So I thought I would catch the moment and post one of the recipes I have at hand; it really is a salad for every season, it works when it is hot and it works when it is cold but then I love potatoes and could probably eat them every day if it wasn't that I am living in Italy where the potato isn't the general staple food in the way it is in Sweden. Or in Ireland. Or in the Netherlands for that matter, who hasn't read about the Great Famine or seen The Potatoe Eaters  I wonder? When I eat potatoes it feels like I am wrapping an old favourite shawl around my shoulders but in my stomach and soul if you understand what I mean, potatoes make me feel good. Or better in case I feel bad. And this potato salad made me feel very good indeed, I hope it does the same for you!

POTATO SALAD WITH LENTILS, BABY SPINACH AND WALNUTS DRIZZLED WITH YOGHURT AND MUSTARD DRESSING
4-6 servings

salad:
1000 g/ 2,2 lb potatoes, un-peeled if the skin is thin
250 g/ 0,55 lb cooked lentils
1 small onion, finely chopped
125 g/ 0,3 lb fresh baby spinach leaves
a handful of walnuts, crushed or roughly chopped

dressing:
4 tblsp natural yoghurt
2 tblsp water
2 tblsp Dijon mustard
0,5-1 tblsp mild vinegar
salt
6-8 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil

 Boil the potatoes, cut them into pieces and put these in a bowl. Add lentils and chopped onions and mix.

 Whisk the ingredients for the dressing until mixed well.

 Now add baby spinach to the salad, drizzle the dressing over and toss/stir it all until everything is well distributed. Sprinkle walnuts over and serve!

Irish Soda Bread - Bread Baking Buddy Roundup

I'm late with this roundup because I have been away on a job but now I am back for a while and one of the first things I want to do is to post this Bread Baking Buddy roundup, they, our dear Buddies, have patiently been waiting in the wings so here we go. No not straight away, first I want to give you a link to post with the recipe of the bread: go here; then I want to say that I am a bit surprised that we only have four Buddies with us this time, considering how easy and quick to make this bread is but maybe people don't like soda bread? or are scared of making it? Or could it be that a few of us baking it had problems with a chemical taste in it? The majority no but there are obviously something that provokes it, be it in the bread or on our tongues.

I was very happy to see that Michelle of The Beauty of Life baked a beautiful gluten-free version of the soda bread and that she also liked it!

Another one who baked and liked the bread is Janet from Barre None who took this as an opportunity to get baking again!

Connie over at the my discovery of bread on the other hand did not like the bread because she too felt that chemical taste. I am seriously beginning to think it must be a Dutch taste gene that causes people to feel that taste! Anyway, I'm happy she joined in and blogged about it because life is variety!

And to conclude, there is Judy who also baked and liked it, steer over to to Judy's Gross Eats to see what she thinks bout it!

A big Thank You to our Bread Baking Buddies, it is always a joy to bake with you! (and if I have forgotten someone, please contact me and I will immediately add you!)