5.29.2018

Chocolate Salami (Salami di cioccolato)

Chocolate Salami


Chocolate salami is a perfect recipe to make your kids. It is funny, quick and delicious. The idea of eating a chocolate salami is a little gross, but it taste like just like any good chocolate dessert.  You can serve the Salami with whipped cream and strawberries, it will taste delicious. 
Ingredients
  • 7 oz / 200g dark chocolate, chopped
  • 3 oz / 85g unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup / 70g white sugar
  • 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
  • 6 oz / 170g plain cookies (tea biscuits, digestive cookies), crushed not to small
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons / 30ml dark rum or amaretto liquor
  • 1 cup mixed nuts, toasted and roughly chopped
Instructions
  1. Mix chocolate and butter in a pot and melt it over another pot of boiling water.
  2. In a bowl, combine vanilla extract, sugar, egg and yolk. Add to the chocolate mixture and mix well. Stirring frequently, continue to cook until sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth (about 4-5 minutes). It should be hot to touch. Remove from heat.
  3. Add crushed cookies, rum and chopped nuts to the chocolate mixture and stir with spatula until well combined. Leave to cool and thicken slightly.
  4. Divide the mixture evenly between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it up to form two logs. Twist the ends tightly and leave in a fridge overnight.
  5. Unwrap the logs and coat with powdered sugar. You can tie them like a real salami with string or just leave it normal. Cut into slices and serve. 
  6. Chocolate Salami can be stored well wrapped in a fridge for up to 1 week or for up to 1 month in a freezer.

5.26.2018

Spaghetti alle Vongole

Spaghetti alle Vongole, a classic dish from Italy. Found on all the coast of the boot and Islands, some make good some make very blend, some make OK, but is hard to mess it up. Usually Spaghetti alle Vongole is served very simple, just with olive oil and white wine.
This is my version of the Spaghetti alle Vongole, the way I like. Adding a little bit of tomatoes, spice and why not some cilantro?



Spaghetti alle Vongole

1kg/2,2 Lbs fresh Vongole (Clams, from a clean sea)
1/2 chopped onion
4 cloves of garlic, sliced (No necessity to be super thin)
1 can tomatoes, crushed (Don't go cheap on that)
1 cup, dry white wine
4 tbsp Olive Oil
Crushed red peppers - Pepperoncini (Optional)
Hand Full of Fresh Parsley or cilantro


Fill a large bowl with cold water and stir in enough salt to make it salty like the sea. Add vongole and let stand 30 minutes. Lift vongole from water and discard purging water; if there is sand in the bottom of the bowl, rinse it out and repeat this process until vongole no longer release sand into the water (usually 2 to 3 purging cycles). Discard any vongole that are gaping open and refuse to close when prodded.
In a large skillet, combine oil with garlic, onion and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat until garlic and onion are lightly golden, about 5 minutes. (Adjust heat as necessary to keep it gently sizzling).
Add white wine, tomatoes, pepperoncino and vongole, cover, and increase heat to high. Cook, checking every 30 seconds or so and transferring clams as they open to a large heatproof bowl, until all vongole have opened, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.
Allow vongole to cool slightly, then pull meat from shells; save a few shell-on vongole per serving for garnish. If vongole meat is large (for example, from larger littleneck vongole), you can roughly chop it.
In a pot or large skillet of salted water, cook pasta until just shy of al dente (about 1 minute less than cooking time on package). Transfer pasta to skillet with white-wine sauce, add a few tablespoons of pasta cooking water, and cook over high heat, stirring and tossing rapidly, until sauce has reduced and is beginning to form a creamy, emulsified coating on the noodles. Add more olive oil, and both vongole meat and shell-on vongole. Cook, stirring, vongole are heated through, about 1 minute; add more pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if sauce over-reduces and becomes dry or greasy. Season with salt if necessary. Remove from heat.
Stir in parsley or the cilantro and a drizzle more fresh olive oil. Transfer to bowls and serve right away.

5.22.2018

Coffee Liquor

450g / 2 cups espresso coffee
450g / 2 cups sugar
5ml / 1 tea spoon Vanilla extract
450ml / 1.9 cups your favorite rum

You will need a moka pot or a espresso maker in order to make a strong enough coffee for this recipe.
In a sauce pan, combine the sugar and the coffee in low heat for five minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved. After the sugar is dissolved, let it cool down completely. After is completely cool down combine the Rum and the Vanilla extract. Bottle the liquor and keep for 2 days before drinking.


Coffee & Bailey's Semifreddo


A fusion of Ireland and Italy in one cup!?
This is a very simple semifreddo to prepare.

Adapted from traditional Coffee Semifreddo recipes that we can find in every cook book from Nonna's across Italy. We add Coffee liquor and Bailey's to the recipe instead of just coffee. If you would like to make the traditional recipe instead just substitute the 1/4 cup of Bailey's and 1/4 cup of coffee liquor for 1/2 cup of strong espresso coffee.
It's also possible to transform the Coffee & Bailey's semifreddo in a mousse. For making the mousse instead of the semifreddo, just let cool in the refrigerator instead of the freezer. Other use for this delicious dessert is to use as a cake filling. Just imagine how delicious a cake can be with coffee and Bailey's! 


So here is the recipe for the Coffee & Bailey's Semifreddo:


200g whipping cream
70g Mascarpone
70g Condensed milk
1/4 cup coffee liquor
1/4 cup Bailey's
Cocoa powder for dusting

In a big bowl, mix the condensed milk with mascarpone until is all incorporated. Then add the coffee liquor and Bailey's.
Using a mixer whip the cream until is firm. You can test it turning the bowl upside down.
Fold the whipped cream with the coffee & Bailey's mixture, fold very carefully to make it most fluffy as possible.
You can set the semifreddo in espresso cups in the freezer for about two hours.
Before serving, dust cocoa powder in the top and add a little bit more whipping cream.
It's possible to keep the Coffee & Bailey's semifreddo for six weeks on the freezer.

*For the coffee liquor you can use any type, but you can easily make your own following the recipe here in this link.