I Papassini Sardi

Ahhh... the annual papassini project...

We missed this last year as we were busy with the wedding stuff.  And I blogged about the process in detail  when we made the last batch here.  Wow, was that really in 2007?

Actually, this time Stefano and his mum did most of the work.  He had taken the day off to go skiing and by the time I arrived by train from Milan on Friday night, the papassini were already baking in the oven.  He smelt yummy, like vanilla and anise when he came to pick me up from the station.  

But I got to help out with, in my opinion, the best part.  The sugar glaze topping. 

 

What's not to love about the shiny and creamy sugary topping?  I had to hold myself back from licking clean the entire bowl of leftover glaze.

 

And the colorful dragees are just wonderful.

 

Cookie Overdrive

I decided to bake chocolate chip cookies Thursday night to make up for our lack of a turkey dinner. I needed to adjust the cooking times a little to make up for the Italian ingredients and oven. They turned out ok. Well, this evening after dinner I thought, let's bake cookies again!

I experimented a little bit more and with the help of my Chief Taster and Timer, I think I have a hit. ;-)

Here's the recipe, adapted from Mark Bittman's 'How to Cook Everything'.

Buonissimo Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 lb (226gm) butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375F or 190C.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
3. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars; add eggs one at a time and beat until well blended.
4. Add flour mixture to batter by hand, stirring to blend.
5. Stir in vanilla and chocolate chips.
6. Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with salt. Bake 7 minutes until lightly browned. Add a minute if you prefer a crispier cookie.


The salt sprinkle before baking is key. I read about it somewhere and it's true - it really brings out the chocolate flavor. I love the smell of cookies baking in the oven and baking makes me feel happy.

Ok, it's past midnight and time to wrap up the cookie baking operation. Hope you're having a good weekend. Buona notte!

Qus' Crab Shack

Singapore chilli crab with fresh dungeness crabs...


Compliments to the chef, Q!!! Yummy.....

What's for Dinner

For starters, scampi cooked in the oven, lightly seasoned with salt and some olive oil, sprinkled with some fresh Italian parsley.

These were huge about 7 inches long (and pricey). There were only three because the person in line before us snapped up the rest. The taste is sweet and yummy, but still not as good as the gamberi rosso (red prawns) from Sicily. Now those were really amazing.

The main dish was branzino (European sea bass) cooked in a salt shell. First spread a layer of coarse salt in the pan. Place fish and drizzle with some olive oil. Cover with more coarse salt. End of recipe!

This simple and healthful way of cooking results in a surprisingly tasty dish. The fish is moist and tender, almost like it has been steamed. The taste is perfect, just enough salty, but not overly.

Best of all was the cute chef who prepared the meal. He even expertly deboned the fish before serving it. ;o)

Tortelli di Zucca

More cooking? Yup, but it's only because we like to eat. ;-) This weekend's project was handmade tortelli di zucca. We had some pumpkin (zucca) given to us from a friend, Andrea's, family garden, and so what better way to use it than to make some tortelli.

Now, I had to know, what exactly is tortelli, and how is it different from ravioli? Well, according to Stef, tortelli is folded over so there are only 3 exposed sides, while ravioli is cut/exposed on all 4 sides. Oh. There also specific reasons why different fillings are made with different types of pasta. I'll have to research that one day.

So let's get started. Step 1, roast pumpkin pieces in the oven for about 1 hour. Let cool and smash with a fork. Add grana (grated cheese similar to parmagiano reggiano), crushed amaretti cookies and eggs. Mix to form the pumpkin filling.


Step 2, mix flour and eggs and knead to form the pasta dough. Let rest for 1/2 hour before making the tortelli.


Now pull out the pasta machine, or if you're a purist, roll out the dough into thin sheets. Stef was the master of his Imperia pasta machine. His mum and me were put to work forming each tortelli by hand. The important thing is to make sure there are no air bubbles trapped between the filling and the dough, or else they will break apart during cooking. Finally, use a small cutter to trim the edges with a pretty pattern.

Ta-dah!!! Now I'm just waiting for dinner time.

Dolci Sardi: Papassini

This weekend was highly productive. We set out on a mission to bake up a batch of Stef's favorite Sardinian sweet: the papassini. And oh boy, does he take this very seriously. The process started out a month ago while we were in Sardinia. We had to go to this special store in Sassari called a drogheria. (I just looked it up and it means 'grocery store'). This place looked about 100 years old, and inside we picked up some special 'secret' ingredients that can't be found outside of Sardinia. It just so happened that when we arrived in Sassari that afternoon, we found all the shops closed for the afternoon until 5pm. It was too far to the beach and so we ended up sitting on a bench outside for an hour or so waiting for the store to reopen.

Ok, so about the 'secret' ingredients. This recipe is from his grandmother in Sardinia, and he's guarding it like it's National Security. I'm not even supposed to look at the actual recipe, although I did sneak a peek here and there. hehe... Anyway, since I can't spill the beans, I'll just give a rough account what went on.

First, chop the nuts - almonds and walnuts. If you're fanatic, do it by hand. Otherwise, throw them in a food processor.


Mix the flour with eggs, sugar, lard and baking powder to form a dough. Add in chopped nuts, raisins, orange rind, anise, and some other 'secret' ingredients. Lay to rest for a couple hours.


Resume preparations by rolling and cutting out the dough. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Let cool overnight.


Now they are ready for the glace topping. Prepare glace with sugar, water and egg white.


When the consistency is just right, spread on each cookie carefully and sprinkle with silver and multicolor dragees (sprinkles) .


Now allow for the glace topping to dry out. Look at them and wait patiently, wondering when these papassini can finally be eaten!!