A dessert can change your mood

Sweet stars

After a stressful and hot school day, I missed the bus to go home. Waiting for the next one, I saw an Indian friend passing by, she saw me and came to greet me. I was so hungry that I asked her if she knew any good restaurant to have lunch. On the way she told me that her dream was to take me to India: an imaginary trip to a foreign country! That's what she did... ! She took me to a magical Indian restaurant to taste some special dishes. When we arrived there, I thought we were in another world: it was all decorated with flowers on the walls. At the entrance of the restaurant, a waiter dressed in a white tunic welcomed us and kindly brought us to our table. There was a very good smell! I started to imagine what dishes the chef was cooking in the kitchen. Then we tasted some dishes and they were delicious! We congratulated the chef on the preparation of the dishes. While talking a bit about the recipes, the chef asked me if I knew any typical Albanian desserts: the Trilece immediately came into my mind. It’s a very well known dessert in Albania! The very curious chef asked me if I could prepare it and I didn't wait a minute! After he tasted this delicious dish he congratulated me and asked for the recipe. Here it is! Ingredients: 6 eggs  150 gr of sugar  170 gr flour  250 ml cream for dessert  1 l whole milk 200 gr caramel GLOSSARY  Yolk: the yellow part of eggs. White: the white part of eggs. Cream for dessert: it is the fat part of the milk usually used to make dessert. Whisk: to mix the ingredients with a blender. Flour: the flour derives from cereal and it is used in cooking for dessert, bread, etc… Dough: it is the mixing of flour and other ingredients in a recipe that can be baked and eaten. Butter the pan: to grease the pan to ensure that the finished product doesn’t stick to the sides of the pan. Caramel: it comes from sugar and water mixed together. It is used to cover desserts.

How to be excluded from Masterchef... for sure

                                                                                                                                       Identity crisis

MasterChef is an American competitive cooking reality show. In the reality the competitors have to prove their skills in the culinary field and the best one wins. The winner gets $ 100.000,00 in gold coins and the opportunity to publish a book with his/her recipes.

Taking part to MasterChef would be a dream, but in our case it’s not a good idea… since the last time we cooked piadina we burnt the kitchen! Luckily… we are survivors!

After this bad adventure we understood that we really love eating food but we aren’t really gifted at cooking. Anyway… we will try to cook the Mug Cake. We discovered this recipe thanks to our friend that is a chef. He told us that to improve we must start from an easy recipe and keep going with harder recipes.

Our thought was: if we can cook the Mug Cake then everybody can do it! And now we are going to teach you how to make it. The ingredients are not so many, you just need:

- 180 g of sugar;

- 160 g of flour 00;

- 120 g of powdered milk;

- 40 g of powdered bitter cocoa;

- 6 g of yeast for cakes;

- 2 eggs.

To prepare the mug cake you need to beat the eggs and the sugar with an electric whisker or hand whisker. When you get a white and foamy mixture, in a bowl sieve and mix the flour, the bitter chocolate powder and the yeast for cakes. Add the powders little by little to the mixture together with the milk.

Then, continue to mix the ingredients with a whisker. When you get a fluid mixture transfer it into the mug.

Add the white chocolate previously cut in small pieces then cover the cup with transparent film suitable for cooking in microwave. Then cook in microwave at 600 watts (or maximum power for your microwave) for about 1-2 minutes: it depends on your microwave. If you like a consistency more similar to a cake you can leave the mug in the microwave for a bit more.

When the mug cake is ready take it out from the microwave and let it chill!

Now you have your “mug cake” ready to eat. Enjoy your meal and see you next time!

Glossary

Piadina: lethal weapon that was killing me. I’m joking, it is a simple Italian recipe.

Mug: where you put your milk when you have breakfast.

Improve: when we stop burning the kitchen cooking a piadina.

Ingredients: what you need to prepare a recipe.

Powdered: how your mother reduces you if you don’t listen to her.

Bitter: when you don’t put sugar in your coffee.

Electric whisker: a special tool to mix ingredients used in the kitchen.

Mixture: mix of ingredients.

Sieve: a special tool to remove lumps from flour.

Little by little: slowly, gradually.

Fluid: one of three states of substance.

Pieces: how Joe Bastianich reduces a dish when he doesn’t like it.

Film: a type of cover that you use to cover food.

Microwave: a domestic appliance that serves to heat up a food.

Chill: what you need when you are warm.

Kosovan Pite

Moonlight

When I woke up in the morning I opened the window with a big smile on my face: the sun was rising. I went downstairs and I gave my mum a kiss on her cheek. As usually, I went to brush my teeth and she prepared my breakfast. When I was checking my backpack for school and I was about to go out, she suddenly told me that that evening we would cook “pite”! I screamed of joy. I really love preparing Pite!!!
I went to school and the lessons seemed endless: I wanted those five hours to become five minutes. When I turned back home I threw my backpack on the floor, I washed my hands and I was ready to put them in the dough.

Pastry dishes are very popular in Kosovo and the most consumed is “Pite”: that’s a pie filled with beef, spinach or cheese.

If you want to prepare a special Pite here is the recipe for 6 people

 For making pite with cheese you need only few ingredients: cheese, cream, salt, oil, yeast and flour.

For the dough: take a bowl and start putting your flour in it, begin to pour some warm water, put some salt and a bit of yeast. Mix then all the ingredients together then let it rest for approximately 30 minutes.

 Preheat the oven at 200 °C and take the dough and roll it up into balls in order to obtain 10/12 balls.

Take the balls and roll them one by one using a rolling pin: you will get the phyllo dough. Then put the cheese and the cream in order to have ropes: put all those ropes next to each other and put some oil and cream on top to make them crispy. 

Put your pite in the oven for 45 minutes and don’t forget to have a look at it from time to time or it will get burnt! Once out of the oven let it rest and cut it in some slices: the dish is now ready! You can taste it with peppers, pickles or tomatoes salad. But remember... drink a lot of water because it’s a very salted dish!!!

Glossary

Rising: (to rise) something going from a low position to a higher (in our case the sun was going to a higher position)
Downstairs: the lower floor of a house
Scream of joy: when someone screams because he’s/she’s happy

Dough: it is a thick mixture of flour and other ingredients that can be kneaded, baked and eaten
Bowl: a round container that is open on the top and is deep enough to hold fruit, sugar, etc.
Pastry dishes: some dishes (such as pies) are made of pastry casing that covers or completely contains a filling of a variety of sweet or savory ingredients
Pie: a baked dish with fruit/meat/vegetables, typically with a top and base of pastry. You can have sweet pies or salted pies
Few: a small/ non- specific number
Yeast: bakers use yeast to turn flat, sticky, dough into tall, fluffy bread
Pour: to make a substance flow from a container into another container
Rolling pin: a cylinder used to roll out dough to make it flatten
Phyllo dough: it is a very thin part of dough used for making pastries such as baklava or borek (pite) in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine
Pickles: vegetables that have been preserved in a vinegar sauce or salty water.

Mattoncini cake

Why the name “Mattoncini”? The cake we propose is made of various icing layers and biscuits: looking at this cake makes you think of the bricks that build a house and when you cuts a slice…well, the similarity stands out!
The last days of summer are over and you can see new autumn colours. It’s the best time to say goodbye to a beautiful season. We are going to propose you a great way to say goodbye to the best time of the year and to our favourite season: let’s prepare a tasty cake! You could enjoy this dessert with your friends and family. It is hard to resist the temptation of a sweet, especially if it is homemade! In fact I remember that when I came to come over my grandparents, the first thing at once I've seen at once was this beautiful cake that reminded me of my childhood.

Preparation time: 30/35 minutes

Recipe for 6 people

- a pack of biscuits.
- 125g whipping cream
- 125g cream.
- 50g cocoa powder.
- half a cup of milk.
- chocolate bar.


Step 1
For the icing, mix the whipping cream and a half cup of milk in a pan and fry so that it becomes creamy, follow the same procedure in another container by adding half a cup of cocoa powder.

Step 2
Place the biscuits in the cooking tray then spread on them one of the glaze to your liking. For the second layer of cake, dunk the cookies in the milk, then put them in the baking tray together with the glaze.

Step 3
Continue until you reach enough layers, then finish decorating the cake with some bars of chocolate.

Glossary
Among: within, amidst (eg. Their music’s popular among college students)
Clear: eg. He poured water into a clear glass
Layers: overlay, tier, coating, encrustation (eg. The chef layered the chocolate frosting of the cake)
Baking tray: tin, container for biscuits, etc.
Icing: frost, frosting, ice, icing the puck, etc (eg. to pipe icing onto a cake)
Dunk: to dip, to plunge (eg. I dunk the cookies in the milk)

Easy Apple Pie

The first time I ate the apple cake I was a child.
My mum used to prepare this cake for breakfast (in particular in autumn) and I’ve always loved it because it is tasty and a simple sweet with poor ingredients (almost just apples!).
She prepares it very well and this is her secret recipe…

INGREDIENTS 

• ½ cup butter, softened 

• 1 cup sugar 

• 2 eggs 

• ¼ cups all-purpose flour 

• 1 teaspoon baking soda 

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

• ¼ teaspoon salt 

• 1 ½ cups shredded peeled apples (about 2 medium apples) 

• 1 Cup chopped walnuts

• Cinnamon ice cream


STEPS
Heat the oven to 175°.
Then, in a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with the electric mixer (on medium speed) until it becomes light and fluffy.
After that, beat the eggs one at the time.
Cut the apples and put them in a large bowl.
Stir in vanilla, flour, baking, soda, cinnamon, salt, apples and walnuts.

Mix the dough and put it in a bowl.
Then, bake the cake for 40/45 minutes or until the thoothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Finally, cool 10 minutes longer the cake and serve warm with ice cream.
I suggest you vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.

GLOSSARY
Recipe: a set of instructions for making or preparing something.
Teaspoon: a small spoon used to stir tea and coffee, eat dessert, etc.
Cinnamon: a sweet-smelling spice made from the inner bark of various Asian trees of the laurel family.
Walnut: an edible meaty nut with a hard, wrinkled shell.
Stir in: o mix.
Toothpick: A small, pointed piece of wood, for removing food particles from between the teeth.

A summer cake

The Taste of Sound
(in collaboration with the famous Directors Facchetti and Tonoli)

At last it's summer!

The first sunny days are coming and you can see new and shining colours in the nature.

It is the best moment for eating a coloured and fresh cake.

You could enjoy this cake with your friends in the park!

Ingredients:

· 500 g mascarpone
· 6 eggs
· 1 can of pineapple
· 400 g Savoiardi
· 5 spoons of sugar

Preparation:

1. Break the eggs and divide egg yolks and egg whites, then put the two elements in different containers

2. Add five spoons of sugar to the egg yolks and amalgamate the mixture

3. Beat the egg whites with the mixer

4. Add the mascarpone, the mixture of egg yolks and sugar, the egg whites and amalgamate all the ingredients

5. Take the slices of pineapple out of their syrup

6. Put the slices of pineapple in the cake pan

7. Put some of the cream made with mascarpone, the mix of egg yalks, whites and sugar on the slices of pineapple

8. Soak the Savoiardi in the syrup of pineapple

9. Put the Savoiardi on the cream and add the last layer of cream on the top

10. Put the cake in the refrigerator for 2 hours

Special thanks to Paolo Facchetti and Adriano Tonoli!

Glossary
Egg yolk: the yellow spherical part of an egg that is surrounded by the albumen
Egg white: the white part of an egg
Savoiardi: it is a type of biscuit
Syrup: concentrated solution of sugar in water
Beat: to hit repeatedly, for example Beat the egg whites
Amalgamate: to mix, to combine or blend different things together
Soak: to submerge something in a liquid
Beat until still: to whisk the egg whites until they take on a similar appearance to that of the snow
Slice: Portion of limited thickness separated by a mass by cutting, for example a slice of cake, a slice of ham, etc.
Pan: a cooking utensil that you use to cook an egg, for example

Capri cake

The Corso

Why have I chosen this cake?! Because it's the yummiest I've ever eaten!
For chocolate lovers it will be great fun to bake it... and if you are intolerant to some ingredients... don't worry... Capri cake doesn't containt flour!

                                                                                                                                                             Ingredients:

-100 g butter

-85 g icing sugar

-35 g caster sugar

- 125 g almonds

- 2 eggs

- 4 g yeast

- 100 g dark chocolate

                                  - 15 g bitter cocoa powderer

                                           -25 g potato starch

Preparation:

1)Chop the almonds and powdered dark chocolate, pour into a bowl and add flour and baking powder.

2) In a bowl cream the butter with the icing sugar, add the egg yolks one at a time and gradually mix with the powder mixture.

3)Whisk the egg whites with sugar and use soothing gestures to incorporate them into the mixture.

4) Pour the mixture into a buttered and floured mold with the potato starch.

5)Bake at 160 ° for 45 minutes
6) After cooking, let the cake cool in the mold; take out and then let it cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

This recipe was created by: Moira and Simone

Glossary:
Chop: to crumble    

Yolks: the red part of an eggGradually: slowly

Starch: flour
Pour: to put

Mix: to blend

Whisk: to mix
Mold: a plate to give cakes a particular shape

The Sarmale: a food that tastes like love.

Broket's Team

5 years ago, I do not remember exactly the day, there was a Romanian event I have never heard about until that day. All my relatives and my parents were chatting about what to cook for that day, but I did not know why. In the afternoon my mother began cooking the usual Christmas food such as Russian salad, veal omelet, some desserts and a dish made of gelatin.

The second day we went to a Romanian oratory where all my relatives came with a lot of food: I didn’t know many of the dishes on those tables. When everybody was there, we began eating and tasting more or less every speciality. I started right away to sample the desserts as they are my favorite, I continued with a traditional Romanian food, then came the moment when I tasted the so-called "Sarmale". It didn’t look particularly appetizing but tasting it I fell in love! After eating a couple of sarmale I asked those who have cooked them for the recipe. Since they were very kind they gave me the recipe and I passed it to my aunt I showed it to my mother thinking that maybe she did not know that special recipe, but she said that she already knew how to cook Sarmale very well, the problem was that it took a long time to do, so I told her that if she cooked it the day after I would helped her. She accepted! The following day my mother prepared all ingredients including rice and told me to start making the rolls, which is not easy, but after a while I learned how to do it.

Following my mother’s instructions step by step, I prepared Sarmale and put them on the stove. A delicious smell was already spreading…


I tasted a couple of Sarmale as soon as they were ready and I would say that that day I ate the most delicious food of Romania!


This is the recipe for 8 people

Ingredients

-500 G pork meat minced;
-100 G rice;
-100 G tomato concentrate;
-about 40/50 vine leaves (sold in brine in Romanian shops);
-1 beautiful large onion;

-2/3 tablespoons of olive oil (maybe sunflower);
-some of thyme and bay leaf;
-dill;
-parsley;
-salt and pepper.

Method
Before proceeding with the composition, wash well and several times with hot water the vine leaves in brine because they are salty and we don’t want our sarmale to be too salty.

Add ground beef to the finely chopped onion, rice, oil, bay leaf, thyme, parsley and dill (everything must be chopped very finely). Season with salt and pepper. If the mixture is not so homogenous add half a cup of hot water. Now taste the mixture: salt and pepper should be enough otherwise Sarmale will be insipid.

Once you have made the dough you proceed to make the rolls.

They do not have to be too big: the perfect size is about 3/4 cm. We put the vine leaf on the palm of the hand and we fill it with the meat, then we roll up and turn with the opening towards us. We must close the rolls very well otherwise in cooking they will get open.

Take a pot of 5 liters and put a little oil. Then settle the remaining grape leaves in order to get a first layer. Fill the pot with hot water and put on the fire for about two hours until Sarmale get soft.In the last half hour of cooking add the tomato paste.

Sarmale are ready when also the rice is perfectly cooked.

You can serve them with polenta and sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and green chili peppers in vinegar.

It goes well with a glass of red wine.

Enjoy your meal !!!

Glossary
Sample: a small part from a larger whole, showing the quality, style, or nature of the whole
Tasted: to test the flavor or quality of by taking some into the mouth
A couple: a few; several; more than one but not many
Cook: to prepare (food) by heat
Recipe: a set of instructions for making or preparing something, esp. a food dish
Stove: an apparatus that furnishes heat for warmth or cooking
Smell: to detect the odor of (something) through the nose; inhale the odor of something
Brine: water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt
Chat: to have an informal conversation
Gelatin: a colorless water-soluble glutinous protein obtained from animal tissues such as bone and skin
Appetizing: appealing or stimulating the appetite
Step by step: doing things in an order, one after the other
Smell: to detect the odor of (something) through the nose; inhale the odor of something
Minced: chopped into very small pieces
Salty: tasting of or containing salt; saline
Ground beef: the flesh of a cow, steer, or bull raised and killed for meat
Chop: to cut or separate (something) with quick, heavy blows, using a sharp tool like an ax or a knife
Season: a period of the year when something is available/
to make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else

Insipid:something insipid is lacking in flavor or interest
Dough: flour combined with water, milk, etc., in a thick mass for baking
Pot: a container made of baked clay, metal, etc., used for cooking, serving, and other purposes
Layer: a thickness of some material laid on or spread over a surface
Tomato paste: tomato pulp
Sour: having an acid taste resembling that of vinegar

HOMESICKNESS

Lifestyle 

The Mars Cake is a tasty and crispy dessert. It is very easy to prepare, but generally the recipe is interpreted at pleasure by the chef with the addition of creative ingredients, sometimes not included in the original recipe. Definitely the purists of the kitchen will turn up their nose hearing a recipe of a cake made with Mars (junk food), but I think that every sweet contains at least one unhealthy ingredient and that is not the use of junk food in itself to define our health, but how much of it we consume!
I personally know a special recipe that one of my dearest friend has kindly given to me: we cooked it together last summer and during the preparation she confided to me that this dessert always reminds her of her childhood and her holidays in Tunisia, when her grandfather prepared it with much care and passion for her and her sister. He died four years ago and whenever she misses him, she makes the Mars Cake to feel a little better. Obviously there is a secret ingredient that he has handed down to her granddaughter and that unfortunately we can not reveal …

Ingredients:

· 200 grams of puffed rice
· One confection of Mars
· Chocolate
· 80 gram of butter.

Preparation:
1. Butter the pie;
2. Slice to pieces the Mars;
3. Melt the butter with the chocolate in a pot, if you want you can use the microwave oven;
4. Put the puffed rice in the baking tray with the chocolate;
5. Put everything in the baking tray in the fridge for two hours;
6. Remove from the fridge your cake and taste it!

Glossary
Crispy: something that is thin, dry, and breakable
Slice: to cut some objects
Pieces: it is a portion of the food, a portion of something larger
Melt: to reduce something from a solid to a liquid state.
Pot: it is a container used in cooking
Baking tray: it is kitchen utensil made of metal used for cooking cookies or biscuits in the oven

Pancakes Time

Bittersweet

Hello guys!

Who among you doesn't like pancakes? Well, we love them!
Our pancakes take certain characteristics from the Holland pancakes and some peculiarities from the

British ones.
Furthermore we add a personal touch: the yeast. It is at this point that the pancakes road is separated
forever from that of waffles and get a recipe of their own.
This tasty recipe includes simple but nutritious ingredients: milk, flour, eggs, butter and
sugar, mixed together to obtain a fairly liquid batter to be poured into a pan placed on a
high heat. The pancakes are cooked first on one side and then on the other, until both sides
assume a brown color. As "dressing", then you only have to choose: honey or maple syrup,
butter and banana slices, berries and powdered sugar. Anything that makes you come up
with the idea of a tasty breakfast is fine for pancakes… but they are also good natural!
Let's see how to prepare this tasty dish!

What we need?

200 gr of flour
2 teaspoons of yeast
1\2 teaspoons of salt
1 spoon of sugar
2 eggs
250 ml of milk
3 spoons of oil

Sift the flour into a bowl, add a pinch of salt,
 a teaspoon of sugar
and baking powder.

Divide the egg whites from the yolks: mix both with electric mix.

In another bowl mix the milk and melted butter in a double boiler, combine the egg yolks,
add powdery ingredients and finally the egg whites. Now mix!

Butter to grease a pan, pour a ladle of the compound rolling the pan to distribute it well and
cook on both sides until you reach a brown color.

And finally enjoy these wonderful desserts in good company!

(Special thanks to Irene's Closet and Cucina con Federica for the photos!)

Glossary
Recipe: If you follow the recipe closely, your meal should turn out fine
Yeast: Bakers use yeast to turn flat, sticky dough into tall, fluffy bread. The yeast interacts with sugar and fills the bread with pockets of air as it bakes
Yolk: A yolk is the inner, yellow part of an egg. If you order eggs "sunny side up," those "suns" are the egg yolks
Melted: changed from a solid to a liquid state
Teaspoon: a small spoon used for stirring tea or coffee
Bowl: a bowl is a rounded dish that holds food. Many people start the day with a bowl of cereal
Sift: to bake a cake, you sift the flour to get out the lumps. When you sift, you separate one thing from another
Maple syrup: made by concentrating sap from sugar maples
Furthemore: just when you think your friend has finished her long list of complaints, she begins a new sentence with, “Furthermore…” a word that signals she has even more to complain about
Waffle: you might think of a waffle as a grid-patterned pancake-like food that's tasty with syrup, and you'd be right. But the word is also a verb that means to avoid making a definitive decision
Batter: a semiliquid mixture of flour, egg, and milk or water used in cooking, especially for making cakes or for coating food before frying
Poured: to pour is to flow rapidly in a steady stream, or to cause something to flow. You can pour good coffee into a cup and pour bad coffee down the drain
Dressing: something used as "filling"
Honey: a sweet, sticky, yellowish-brown fluid made by bees and other insects from nectar collected from flowers.
Baking powder: any of various powdered mixtures used in baking as a substitute for yeast
Double boiler: two saucepans, one fitting inside the other
Butter: a pale yellow edible fatty substance made by churning cream and used as a spread or in cooking
Ladle: a large long-handled spoon with a cup-shaped bowl, used for serving soup, stew, or sauce.
Rolling: move or cause to move in a particular direction by turning over and over on an axis
Pinch: To pinch is to squeeze or grip with your fingers

Is a florentine steak (t-bone) better than a football match?

The Anonymous

It was Wednesday, there was something magic in the air. My two best friends and I decided to go to Florence to see the Champions League match, Fiorentina – Bayern München. Unfortunately the train was on delay (how weird!) so we missed the match. When we arrived in Florence (too late for the match!) we hadn't eaten yet. So we decided to go to a local tavern. The menu was very long but we saw immediately these three words “Rare Steak Florentine” and considering that we had missed Fiorentina's match we had to taste at least the dish to find little consolation.

And it was great, that's for sure! It was one of the most beautiful things that we have ever eaten. We know that you haven't lived this experience with us but we can share the recipe... symbolically!

Ingredients

• 2 large garlic cloves, halved;
• 3 T-bone steaks (each about 1 1/2 pounds, and 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches thick) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper;
• 1 lemon, halved;
• 2 teaspoons olive oil Grilled Vegetables

Grilled Vegetables

• 3 red bell peppers, seeded and halved;
• 3 yellow squashes (about 1 pound total), sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick rectangles;
• 3 zucchini (about 12 ounces total), sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick rectangles;
• 3 Japanese eggplant (12 ounces total), sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick rectangles;
• 12 cremini mushrooms;
• 1 bunch (1-pound) asparagus, trimmed;
• 12 green onions, roots cut off;
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper;
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar;
• 2 garlic cloves, minced;
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves;
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil leaves;
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves.

Directions

Rub the garlic cloves over the meat and the bone of the steaks. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper. Place in the refrigerator and allow seasoning to permeate the meat, for about 1 hour.

Remove from the refrigerator at least 20 minutes before grilling, allowing the meat to come to room temperature. Place a grill pan over high heat or prepare the barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill the steaks until cooked to desired doneness, turning once, about 5 minutes per side for rare, 7 minutes per side for medium-rare. The key to getting those great grill marks is to place the steak down and not move them. After you flip them, do not shift the steaks. Allow the steaks to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing, otherwise all the juices will be run all over your cutting board. Run your knife along the bone and carve the meat off the bone. Slice the meat into 1-inch slices. Transfer the slices to a platter. Squeeze the lemon over the steaks. Drizzle with the oil and serve immediately with Grilled Vegetables.

Yield: 6 servings                     Prep Time: 15 minutes                    Cook Time: 25 minutes

Glossary

Clove: aromatic flower bud of a clove tree
Halve: divide by two
Garlic: bulbous herb of Southern Europe widely naturalized. Es. Italian people love pasta with GARLIC, oil and chilly pepper
Teaspoon: a small spoon used for stirring tea or coffee, it holds about one fluid dram
Seeded: having or supplied with seeds
Lengthwise: in the sense of the length
Trimmed: made neat and tidy by trimming
Root: (botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; it absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it
anchors the plant to the ground
To chop: cut into pieces
To rub: move over something with pressure
To sprinkle: to spread gently
To allow: to let, permit
Seasoning: something added to food primarily for the savor it imparts
To grill: cooking by direct exposure to radiant heat
Room temperature: the normal temperature of a room in which people live
Doneness: cook adequately
Rare: (of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside
To flip: to reverse
Knife: edge tool used as a cutting instrument
To slice: make a clean cut through
T­Bone steak: small steak from the thin end of the short loin containing a T­shaped bone and small piece of tenderloin
Squash: the fruit of a squash plant; eaten as a vegetable. A squash is an orange vegetable also known as pumpkin
To mince: to cut into small pieces
Bone: rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates
To carve: tp cut into pieces
Platter: a large shallow dish used for serving food
To drizzle: to spray some liquid
Yield: an amount of a product

From China with fury!

Bad Boys

This is a delicious recipe from the Chinese tradition.

If you want to eat a tasty dish that will make you live a real Asian experience, you have to try this recipe!
Tang Cu Pai Gu is bitter-sweet mix of ribs, spices and sauces with a sprinkle of vinegar and wine.
If you are lucky (and a bit lazy…), you can try Tang Cu Pai Gu in some famous Chinese restaurants or take-away.
I suggest you to try this recipe because it is a satisfying food experience.

If you are a good cook you can do it at home, following the recipe below!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound spare ribs (cut into to 1.5 inch sections)
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
• 30-35g mashed rock sugar
• 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of cooking wine
• 3 tablespoons of black vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of extra black vinegar
• 1 star anise (optional)
• 3 ginger slices
• 4 green onions (only the white part)
• Hot water as needed 
• ½ tablespoon of white sesame seed for garnishing
• Spring onion for garnishing

INSTRUCTIONS:

1- Cut ribs into 1.5 inch sections. Place them in a pot with cold water. Bring to boiling and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Take the ribs out and rinse them under running warm water. Set aside to drain.

2- Add cooking oil and smashed rock sugar in a wok, heat over a slow fire. Keep stirring until the sugar melts and turns into dark red.

3- Add ribs until they become almost brown, place light soy sauce on top, cooking wine and black vinegar. Continue stirring and frying for 2 minutes, pour enough hot water to cover and add ginger, green onion and star anise.

4- Cover the pan with the lid and simmer for 25 minutes over slow fire. Stir once or twice in the process. Pick the ginger, green onion and star anise out in the later stage.

5- Turn up the fire. Keep stirring and stop when the sauce has almost adhered to the ribs. Be carefully in the last minutes in order not to get your ribs overcooked.

6- Add 1 extra teaspoon of black vinegar and sesame seeds. Combine well.

7- Garnish with chopped springs onion before service.


Glossary
Lazy: taking a comparatively long time
Inch: unity of length
Wok: cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel
Pot: a kitchen utensil used for cooking
Rinse: the act of removing
Stir: the act of mix something
Fry: to cook something with fat/oil
Anise: aromatic herb
Pour: to flow something in a different container
Lid: the cover a hole (especially a hole in the top a container)
Simmer: boil slowly something at low temperature
Overcooked: cooked too long
Garnish: to decorate with other food

A delicious cheesecake :)

Life is like a recipe for a cake. 

If you follow the usual ingredients you will make the cake 

but you will already know how it will taste. 

People will appreciate it but they will forget it very soon. 

It always takes a touch of genius in any recipe to be sure that it won’t die 

with the last bite.

We are a group of girls with the passion of cooking and even if it's not your birthday today we are going to share with you some of our secret recipes!

Here is our special strawberry cheesecake... yummy!

INGREDIENTS
24 cookies
3 tablespoons of butter melted
250 g Philadelphia (or cream cheese softened)
¾ cup of sugar
3 eggs

DIRECTIONS
Preparation time: 20 m
Cooking time: 45 m
Ready in 4 h 5 m


PREPARATION

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Put 16 cookies in a plastic bag, flatten the bag to remove the excess of air, then finely crush cookies by rolling a rolling pin across the bag.

Place the crushed cookies in a bowl and add butter mixing carefully.

Press firmly onto bottom of springform pan














Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl using an electrical mixer on medium speed until the mixture is well blended. Then add the 3 eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

Sprinkle with marmalade and make the cake tasty and lip-smacking adding red and fresh strawberries

Bake for 45 minutes or until the centre is almost cooked. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight before serving.
Cut into 12 pieces and enjoy it!

If you resist eating the whole cheesecake store it in the refrigerator.

Glossary
Yummy: very pleasing to the taste, delicious

Flatten: to press (oneself or one’s body) against a surface
Rolling pin: a tool consisting of a cylinder (usually of wood) with a handle at each end
Bottom: the lowest or deepest part of anything
Pan: a wide or broad, usually shallow metal container used for cakes and for cooking in general
Blend: to combine or mix two elements together so that the constituent parts are indistinguishable
Sprinkle: to disperse or distribute here and there, for example you sprinkle sugar on the top of a cake
Lip-smacking: displaying or expressing enjoyment or pleasure, especially at the taste of food or drink

Naples street food: between tradition and modernity

Newsroom: GH9

Naples has two different types of street food: the best traditional ones and the modern ones that allow us to enjoy the new face of Naples.

Walking around the streets and alleys of Naples can be a completely different experience when accompanied by good street food. The Street Food is often criticized by many, but especially loved by people and tourists who cannot leave the city without trying some traditional Neapolitan products.

Naples is not only a place of tradition and culture, but in recent years new cultures from all around the world have set there bringing with them new forms of street food. Not only classic flavours, but also the American and Asian ones.

We want to propose you some recipes and descriptions of Traditional and Modern street food.

Zeppole and Panzerotti

Why not walking around the city while eating some Zeppole or Panzerotti freshly baked?

The Acuzano family, from 1938, manages the historic “Friggitoria Vomero”: here you can find Zeppole that are fresh pasta with a pinch of salt, fried in hot oil. The Panzerotti are potatoes croquettes stuffed with parsley, parmigiano or pecorino, salt and pepper, fried in hot oil as well.

Frittatine di pasta

Frittatine di pasta are that type of dish that once you have tried it, you cannot stop eating!
This is a traditional recipe, that you can try in every pizzeria while you are waiting for your pizza.
It is a croquette stuffed with bucatini, besciamella, cubes of ham and green peas. The mix is fried in hot oil.
On the web you can find a lot of recipes to make them by yourself, but the ones prepared by the shop “Imperatore” have an incredible flavour!

Taralli napoletani

This is a product that nowadays represents a tipical excellence.

Taralli are made with flour, sugna (lard), one cube of brewer’s yeast, almond, salt and pepper (the right amount), all baked for 25 minutes. The best Taralli are made by the Infante family, that owns “Casa Infante”. They are the exellence from the 1940. 

Sfogliatelle

And, finally, here we are to the typical Neapolitan dessert: la Sfogliatella. This historic delight conquests every palate, Neapolitan or not.
The mixture is made by flour, strutto (lard), water, a pinch of salt, honey, stuffed with semolina, fresh ricotta, powdered sugar, eggs, water, sweets, vanilla extract, cinnamon, a pich of salt.
The historic “Pintauro” is the most famous bakery, that takes out the best Sfogliatelle of the planet!

Nowdays there also modern and tasty street food like Kebab, Pita, Hamburger and Hotdogs ...but that cannot be compared with the traditional Neapolitan dishes!

And remember... In Naples when the meal is ready you will always hear someone saying “Jamm à magnià!”

Glossary

Allow: To let someone do something;
Alley: Narrow street with walls or buildings on both sides;
Manges: Skillfully handle something;
Delights: When you like someone or something;
Recipe: Directions for making a dish or dessert;
Brewer’s yeast: Used as leaven in baking and brewing;
Flavour: the taste experience when a savoury condiment is taken into the mouth.