Tuscan Potato Soup

This is a great soup just in time for the beginning of spring. There are variations in the ingredients used so i have added them in brackets.

Zuppa Toscana 
Ingredients:

2 Italian sausages (remove from casing and crumble. Zalzett malti would also do!)
A few slices of pancetta
2 potatoes, cut in half lengthwise, and then cut into 1/4" slices
3/4 cup diced onions
1/4 cup finely chopped carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups kale leaves, cut in half, then sliced
chicken broth, one carton or about 1 ltr
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (or you can also use about 4 tbs of Philadelphia cream cheese)
salt and pepper to taste

Method.
Put onions, carrots and celery in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Add garlic and potatoes  to the onions and cook an additional 1minute. Add chicken broth,and bring to a boil. .Add the sausage and bring to a simmer.Let simmer for about 5 mins or until sausage is cooked. Add kale and cream. Season.Simmer for about 5-10 minutes and serve.

Easter biscuits

Yum...these were delicious! Again, thanks to The Telegraph, UK I found another delicious recipe and just in time for easter.

                                                        Easter biscuits Photo: LAURA HYND
Ingredients

70g plain flour

250gms unsalted butter, diced

125gms golden caster sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

biscuit cutters 

Method

Sift the flour and half a teaspoon of salt into a bowl and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl, using a wooden spoon or a mixer, until well combined and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix well, then work in the flour. Once the mixture comes together as a dough, dust your hands with flour and wrap it in cling film. Chill for an hour (or up to a few days if more convenient) or freeze for up to a month. This dough can otherwise be tricky to work, especially in hot weather or a warm kitchen.

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Roll out the dough using plenty of flour (it is quite sticky) to 3-4mm thick. Cut out the biscuits with your chosen cutters and lay them on two baking sheets lined with parchment. Make holes towards the top of each with a skewer for threading through the ribbon. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until pale gold. Cool on a wire rack, re-forming the ribbon holes with the skewer.

To decorate

700g white sugarpaste

colour paste in the colours you would like to use.

250g packet royal icing

silver balls

6m coloured ribbon for hanging

Divide the sugarpaste into three and place in separate polythene bags. Use the colours on two pieces and leave one white

On a clean work surface dusted with icing sugar, roll out the  sugarpaste to about 2mm thick. Cut out with the cutters matching the shapes

Make the royal icing according to the packet instructions, divide into colours  and put into piping bags.

Pipe a little royal icing on to the biscuit and use to stick on the sugarpaste shape. Make a hole in the sugarpaste in the same place as that on the biscuit for the ribbon. Add silver balls for decoration.

Allow the sugarpaste and icing to set overnight. Cut the ribbon into 25cm lengths and thread through each biscuit.

Figolli - Get ready for Easter!

Figolli are Traditional Maltese almond Pastries baked for Easter. They consist of pastry figures filled with a ground almond mixture and covered with royal and glace icing. The traditional shapes are men, women, fish, lamb and baskets but nowadays you can also find heart shape, butterflies, rabbits and cars. The human shapes usually have paper faces stuck on to the icing.  They are decorated with glace icing and royal icing and finished off with a chocolate egg stuck in the middle.


My Grandma had metal forms that she would use to cut out the forms, or even bake the forms in. They were made by a local metal worker and could be bought at the market or some specialty stores. I don't think it is possible to buy them any more but I still have a couple of them and they allow you to make the Figolli almost like a small low pie.

PASTRY

yields approx 4-5 depending on the size of your shapes

14 oz self raising flour+ 1 teaspoon baking powder,sifted

6 oz margarine,

rind of a large lemon,grated

4 tbs sugar,

2 eggs, beaten

and a little fresh milk to bind if necessary.

Make Pastry

Mix the dry ingredients, add the margarine, eggs and milk if necessary - work to a smooth dough.

FILLING

20 oz ground almonds,

8oz icing sugar+12 oz sugar or 20 oz icing sugar,

1egg+1yolk,

juice of 1/2 lemon,

1 tbs brandy.

Mix all in one stage and allow to chill for at least 1 hour in the fridge.

MAKING THE FIGOLLI
Heat oven to 325F.

Roll out a piece of pastry until it is 1/2 inch thick on a well-floured surface.

Cut into desired shapes (Figolli are traditionally cut into the shape of a bird, a fish or a duck and the size of each Figolla is between 8 to 10 inches).

You need two cut-outs for each Figolla.

Spread the filling on one of the cut-outs.

Place the other cut-out on top and press the edges to seal.

Brush the top of the Figolli with the beaten egg.

Bake until the Figolla turns to a golden colour.

Let the Figolla cool down and then decorate with coloured icing.

You can also cover with chocolate.

Place a hollow chocolate egg in the center of each Figolla using some soft icing to hold it in place.

Figolli can be really elaborate - with cut out pictures, richly decorated etc etc - I prefer the iced ones - with the Easter egg on top!

Swiss Cookies - Basler Brunsli

Basler Brunsli - Swiss cookies from Basle - A Swiss town which I  visited a couple of times when I lived in Switzerland. I love these type of cookies - they are so unpretentious and always delicious.I have used Amaretto di Saronno which is not the traditional way to make these cookies but I like the taste it gives.

Recipe adapted from, Küchengötter.de

50 g unsweetened cocoa powder
150 g dark chocolate
300 g ground almonds

200 g sugar

a pinch of salt

50 g flour

4 egg whites 

a generous shot Amaretto Di Saronno (about 3 tbsp)

Method

Chop the chocolate and melt over a bain marie, stirring all the time. Make sure no water gets into the chocolate. Some people manage to melt the chocolate in a microwave but I always end up with a burnt mess! This will be used as the main mixing bowl so make sure it is large enough.

In another bowl, mix the almonds, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and flourIn yet another bowl.....Beat the egg whites until stiff and add to flour mixture.Separate into two balls, cover with cling film and put in the fridge for about 1/2 hrs.
Preheat oven to 220C/430F.
Roll out dough on a floured board to about 1/4" thick and cut into  shapes. Place on a parchment paper lined baking tray.
Some traditional recipes suggest letting them dry on the tray for a couple of hours before baking them.
Bake for about 6 mins, in the middle of the oven. Cookies should be crisp on the outside with a soft center. If you prefer crisp cookies then just bake a bit longer.
Cool and store in an airtight jar

English Scones

I remember cooking class at school (or home economics I guess..) and the first thing we learnt was how to make scones. Some turned out so hard they could be considered a weapon of mass destruction - but some actually turned out well! Scones are typically British and it may be difficult to find the clotted cream, that finishes then so well,  elsewhere. The sultanas are optional but they make a nice twist to the plain recipe.

Scones with sultanas .

Ingredients (yields 6 scones):

200g all-purpose flour, plus more for handling the dough

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 tbsp  sugar

1/2 tsp  salt

60g cold butter

50g  sultanas 

140-150g milk 

for brushing the top: 1 egg yolk and 1 tbsp milk

serve with unsalted butter or clotted cream and jam

Preheat your oven to 220°C /425° F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. You can prepare the dough either by hand or in a food processor.

Mix the flour, the baking powder, the sugar and salt  until incorporated

Cut the  cold butter into small cubes and add them to the dry ingredients  until you get a breadcrumb like consistency.

Add the sultanas and mix, then add the milk  and mix again just until the dough comes together and doesn’t show big spots of dry flour anymore – you can add a little more flour if you think it’s too wet to proceed.

Place onto a well floured board, generously sprinkle with flour and knead very briefly  (do not over knead or the scones will be stogy). Pat into a round disc of about 1 1/2 inch thick and cut out rounds with a  2 1/2 inch diameter cookie cutter  and place  on the parchment paper lined baking tray. 

Quickly knead together remaining dough, pat to the same thickness and cut out more scones.

Beat the egg yolk with one tbsp of milk and brush the tops of the scones. Bake on mid level for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack. Best eaten while still warm with unsalted butter/clotted cream and jam.

Tips: use jam with at least a 50% fruit content.

Learn about Clotted Cream http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotted_cream