Self stitched September '11 days 4,5 and Winter Glasses Panna cotta

What I wore yesterday:

Me-made - skirt, top and underwear

Today I wore a me-made skirt and underwear.

The last recipe in the The Artist's seasons 2011 project from CCS is here,finally!

Bicchieri Inverno or Winter Glasses

You will need:

1. Egg whites and sugar for the schaum

Basic ratio - 5 eggwhites, 250 gr sugar, juice from 1 lemon

2. Coconut flour

Basic recipe to make schoum :

Wisk 5 eggwhites with 100 gr sugar until firm.

Combine the remaining 150 gr of sugar with 0,5 dl water in a pan and cook until you get a thick syrup.

Pour the lemon juice and syrup in the eggwites and wisk until you get a smooth shiny cream.

Now add some coconut flour to the schoum, combine well and fill your panna cotta glasses. If you wish you can garnish with more coconut.

Enjoy! (Glasses slightly tilted due to snowstorm inside.. ;-))))

Upside down cake with peaches

Sweet, moist and soft. Mmmmmmmmyum!

I adapted this recipe.

Four seasons panna cotta - Summer Glass recipe

The second project in the Four seasons project from CCS is here!

Bicchieri Estate or Summer Glasses

You will need:

Cherry jam ( I used homemade)

Panna cotta

Whipped cream

1. Put 1-2 spoonfull of cherry jam in the glasses

Then pour in some panna cotta and let cool (best overnight).

2. Whipp the cream and add some jelly from the jam (no fruit), mix well to get a pink tint you like.

Add the cream to the glasses and form a flower shape with a spoon (or any other utensil you prefer).

Decorate with a leaf and some more jam jelly.

Done!

They have this dusty, wavy, icecreamish look of summer. I like it!

Yummm!!!

Four seasons panna cotta - Spring Glass recipe

Back at CCS I joined a group challenge called The Artist's seasons 2011.
And decided to make some cake. First I thought about pies/crostatas, but then I opted for panna cotta.
Here is the Spring Glass or Bicchiere primavera creation (copy paste from CCS method :-) ):

Bicchieri Primavera or Spring Glasses

You will need:

For the lemon cream:

2 lemons

150 gr sugar

3 eggs

50 gr butter

For the panna cotta:

0,5 l cream

1 vanilla bean

10 gr gelatine ( I used unflavored granulated prepared with 4 spoons of cold water)

For the caramelized orange and sauce:

1 cup sugar

0,5 cup water

1 orange

1 lemon

First you make the lemon cream.

You can use any other citrus you prefer.

Zest and juice the lemons.

In a metal bowl wisk together 1 egg+2 egg yolks and the sugar until light.

Add lemon juice and stir.

Cook on bain marie (double boiler; over until boiling water) until thick. It takes about 10 minutes. When the cream thickens, add a pinch of lemon zest (or more if you want a stronger taste) and cook a bit more to release the flavour.

Remove the bowl and add the sliced butter. Stir until melted and well combined. You wil get a smooth, thick cream.

Let cool.

The cream can be made a day in advance.

Basic panna cotta method:

Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds.

Combine in a saucepan the liquid cream, sugar, seeds and bean.

Prepare the gelatine. (You can use the type you prefer)

Place the sacepan on the stove and bring to boil. Remove the vanilla bean and cook for a couple more minutes.

Remove from the heath and add the gelatine. Stir until well combined.

Put the panna cotta into cups, glasses, or any other container or mold while it is still hot because it thickens and hardens as it cools down.

After it cools at room temperature refrigerate it for 4 hours.

To remove panna cotta from a mold insert the mold in very hot water (the outer layer will melt) and then turn onto a plate.

Caramelized oranges and caramel sauce.

In a pan combine water and sugar and stir well. Put on stove on low heat to melt the sugar.

Wash the orange, slice it crosswise into 0,5 cm slices and then cut away the peel.

Put the slices into the pan and cook. The liquid should simmer.

Turn the slices over a couple of times.

When the caramel sauce is very thick and the orange slices "transparent". Take out the slices and put them on a piece of backing paper or oiled surface to cool.

Juice the lemon and add the juice to the caramel sauce, stir until well combined. Remove pan from the stove.

Now, to recap:

1. make the lemon cream

2. make caramelized oranges and caramel- lemon sauce

3. make panna cotta

How to assemble the Bicchieri Primavera:

1. Pour hot caramel sauce into glasses (while it is still liquid)

Let cool for a while in a cold place an meanwhile make the panna cotta.

2. Add the lemon cream.

When I inserted the lemon cream the sauce was still warm but thicker, so I got the "sinking" look of the cream into the sauce.

3. Pour hot panna cotta into the glasses carefully.

4. Let cool and refrigerate overnight.

5. Decorate with caramelized orange slices and melissa (or mint) leaves.

YUMMMM!!!

A little postcard from the fridge ad a note...

I think I should have used less gelatine. I wish the panna cotta was softer.

But you can try and adjust according to taste.

:-)))

Anyone wants to try?

Fusilli with dried tomatoes

Dried tomatoes are a Sicilian invention. They found the way to preserve the tomatoes for the winter months when there was food shortage. So when you visit this sunny island you make sure to bring some home with you. As we did. And pine nuts, too.

Today I made up this recipe (for three). I just went with what I had at hand having in mind what I saw in Sicilia. It is very quick and easy. You can almost literally prepare the sauce while the pasta cooks. Not really liquid as a sauce, but I couldn't think of another word to describe this. Help me if you can, please, to improve my English! Thanks!

One small onion, a clove of garlic, a hand full of pine nuts, some parsley and celery

One chicken breast cut into strips

12 pieces of dried tomatoes

To soften the tomatoes you have to cook them in boiling water for 3 min

Above you can see: left - diced goat cheese (in Sicilia they would probably use sheep cheese or ricotta), center - drained and chopped tomatoes, right - chopped celery, parsley, garlic and pine nuts

Stew the onion and lightly salted meat. Add salt sparingly because the tomatoes and cheese are already salty. When done add all the other ingredients. I also added pepper and a pinch of curcuma. If the sauce is too dry add more olive oil.

Cook the fusilli (or any other pasta you prefer)
Add the sauce

Buon appetito!

Very tasty and unusual. Great with a sip of good white wine. :-)

And, can you think of a nice name for this recipe? I just didn't want to call it "Fusilli alla Siciliana"...

Juha od tikve - recept/ Pumpkin soup - the recipe/ Minestra vellutata di zucca - la

Let's try again now. Hopefully the post won't disappear today.

I made up this recipe for a really tasty and aromatic soup. The pumpkin I used was green with sweet orange meat.

Ingredients for two:

- 250 gr pumpkin - frozen or cooked till soft, and then mixed

- parsley - chopped

- 1 medium size onion - better if red, finely chopped

- 1 spoon flour

- 0,5 l water

- 1 buillon cube -I used chicken

- salt, pepper, curry, allspice

- milk, sour cream

Cook the chopped onion in some oil and butter until soft. Add the pumpkin, parsley, 250 ml water and cook for 15 minutes. In a small bowl mix the flour and spice, dilute with the remaining water and add the mixture to the pumpkin. Add the buillon cube. Cook until dense. You can correct the density by letting the liquid evaporate to get it thicker or thinning it by adding milk (soya milk will also do) and sour cream.

Serve the soup warm as is or with croutons. Bon appetit!

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Pokušat ću opet. Možda danas ne nestane cijeli post. Stvarno ne razumijem šta se dogodilo.

No, vratimo se sad na recept za juhicu od tikve koju sam smislila, ukusnu i mirisnu, jednostavno za ne propustiti.

Tikva je bila jedna od onih zelenih sa slatkim narančastim mesom.

Za dvije osobe:

- oko 250 gr tikve - odmrznute ili skuhane da smekša, pa izmiksane u kašicu

- peršina - sitno nasjeckanog

- 1 luk srednje veličine - bolje ako je ljubičasti, sitno nasjeckan

- 1 velika žlica brašna

- 0,5 l vode

- 1 kocka za juhu - ja sam koristila kokošju

- curry, piment, sol, papar

- mlijeko, kiselo vrhnje

Popirjajte luk na malo ulja i maslaca dok ne požuti i smekša. Dodajte tikvu i peršin, 250 ml vode i kuhajte 15 minuta. U zdjelici pomješajte brašno, začine po ukusu, umješajte preostalu vodu i sve skupa ulijte u lonac s juhicom, dodajte i kocku. Prokuhajte dok se ne zgusne. Gustoću možete regulirati dodatnim kuhanjem dok se ne zgusne ili dodavanjem mlijeka (može is ojinog) ili vrhnja da se razrijedi.

Servirajte toplu juhicu samu ili uz preprženi kruh. Dobar tek!

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Ecco che ci riprovo. Speriamo che oggi il mio post non svanisca nel nulla. Non riesco a capire cosa sia successo.

Ecco allora la ricetta per la gustosissima e profumatissima minestra di zucca che ho inventato ieri. Veramente da provare. Ho usato una fetta di zucca di quelle verdi con polpa dolce arancione.

Per due persone ci vogliono:

- 250 gr di zucca - scongelata o cotta e poi passata

- prezzemolo tritato

- 1 cipolla di media grandezza - meglio se scalogno, tritato finemente

- 1 cucchiaio grande di farina

- 250 ml di acqua

- 1 dado per brodo - io ho usato quello di gallina

- sale, pepe, curry, pimento

- latte, panna acida

Disfriggete la cipolla ben tritata in poco olio e burro. Aggiungete la zucca, il prezzemolo e 250 ml di acqua. Cucinate per 15 minuti. In una ciotola aggiungete la farina e le spezie e diluite con l'acqua rimasta. Versate il tutto in pentola con la zucca, aggiungete il dado e cucinate finche' si addensa. Potete regolare la densita' facendo evaporare il liquido o aggiungendo latte (anche di soia)e panna acida.

Servite la minestra calda, da sola o con crostini di pane. Buon appetito!