Tuesday 28 January 2014

TIRAMISU by fernanda

Ingredienti
6 uova, 6 chucchiai di zucchero + 2 per il caffe’, 500gr di mascarpone, caffe’ quanto basta per bagnare i savoiardi, un pacco di savoiardi, cioccolato in scagliette p.b. per ricoprire il tiramisu + cacao in polvere, liquore a piacere per bagnare i savoiardi.

Preparazione
Per preparare il tiramisù, dividete gli albumi dai tuorli, aggiungete ai tuorli lo zucchero  e montate con uno sbattitore elettrico dotato di fruste   fino ad ottenere un bel composto chiaro, spumoso e cremoso

Aggiungete il mascarpone al composto di tuorli, a questo punto montate gli albumi  con uno sbattitore elettrico finchè non saranno a neve ben ferma. Una volta che gli albumi saranno montati alla perfezione aggiungeteli al composto di tuorli, zucchero e mascarpone. Fate questa operazione delicatamente, mescolando dal basso verso l'alto, con un cucchiaio in modo da non smontare gli albumi. Ora che la crema è pronta, preparate il caffe’ aggiungete i due cucchiai di zucchero e il liquore a piacere. Prendete un contenitore e fate una strato di savoiardi imbevuti di caffe’ e liquare e una strato di crema, ancora uno strato di savoiardi e crema e finite spolverizzando il cacao in polvere e scagliette di cioccolato. Riponete in frigo per qualche ora per far compattare il dolce e....buon appetito!.

Monday 20 January 2014

Crostata con marmellata

150 gr di burro, 300gr di farina, 130 gr di zucchero, 2 tuorli, 1 scorza di limone grattuggiato, e un po' vi vaniglia liquida bianca, e una confettura di albicocca mischiata con un po' di maraschino o liquore a piacere che si abbina bene con la frutta un liquore abbastanza dolce (Io preferisco il maraschino)
 
Procedimento:

si inizia a mischiare farina e burro a pezzettini e un pizzico di sale amalgamate un po' poi aggiungete i tuorli, la scorza del limone grattuggiato, la vaniglia e lo zucchero, amalgamate tutto velocemente avvolgete la pasta nella pellicola e mettete in frigo per mezz'ora. Poi prendete uno stanpo da crostata di 25 cm spennellate con burro e poi infarinate. Stendete la pasta con il mattanello e appogiate la pasta nella teglia, mettete la confettura di marmellata e con la pasta rimasta ricavate delle striscioline e ponetele sulla marmellata, cuocete in forno a 180 gradi per 45 minuti e qando la crostata si raffredda spolverizzate con lo zucchero a velo e buon dessert.

Tuesday 14 January 2014

PIZZA DOUGH

This is a really simple method for pizza dough and a great place to start if you’ve never made your own bread before. This dough recipe makes enough for 6 to 8 individual pizzas.
INGREDIENTS
4 ¼ cups white bread flour 
1¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
¼ oz. envelope active dried yeast
1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1¾ cups warm water
2 teaspoons olive oil
PROCEDURE·         Pile the flour and salt on to a clean surface and make a 7-inch well in the center. Add your yeast and sugar to the lukewarm water, mix up with a fork and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well.·         Using a fork and a circular movement, slowly bring in the flour from the inner edge of the well and mix into the water. It will look like thick oatmeal – continue to mix, bringing in all the flour. When the dough comes together and becomes too hard to mix with your fork, flour your hands and begin to pat it into a ball.·         Knead the dough by rolling it backward and forward, using your left hand to stretch the dough toward you and your right hand to push the dough away from you at the same time. Repeat this for 10 minutes, until you have a smooth, springy, soft dough.·         Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let double in size for about 45 minutes.



Wednesday 8 January 2014

Naturale nitrites

Is celery juice a viable alternative to nitrites in cured meats?

Hot dog
Nitrates and nitrites are used to “cure” meat.  Their role was likely discovered by accident and can be traced to the use of salt that happened to be contaminated with potassium or sodium nitrate, commonly known as “saltpeter.”  Meat treated with these chemicals retains a red colour, acquires a characteristic taste and most importantly, is less amenable to contamination with disease-causing bacteria, particularly the very dangerous Botulinum clostridium.
By the 1980s it became apparent that certain bacteria were capable of converting nitrates into nitrites and that nitrites were the actual active species.  Consequently nitrites are now added directly to processed meat instead of relying on bacteria to produce them from nitrates.  This allows for better control of nitrite concentrations, a critical aspect of processed meat production.  Why critical?  Because it is well known that nitrites can react with amines, naturally occurring compounds present in meat, as well as in human tissues, to form nitrosamines.  And that is the fly in the hot dog.  Nitrosamines can trigger cancer!  Of course demonstrating that nitrosamines can produce mutations in a Petri dish or that animals treated with high doses develop cancer, does not mean that these compounds are responsible for cancers in humans.  In any case, changes in manufacturing methods and a reduction in the amount of added nitrite have essentially solved the problem of nitrosamine formation in cured meat.
In spite of the epidemiological evidence linking nitrites to cancer being weak, and the established fact that 95% of all the nitrite we ingest comes from bacterial conversion of nitrates naturally found in vegetables, many consumers have a lingering concern about eating nitrite-cured processed meats.  But one person’s concern is another’s business opportunity.  In this case, producers have responded with an array of “natural” and “organic” processed meats sporting the catchy phrases such as “no synthetic preservatives” or “no nitrites added.”  But given the crucial role nitrites play in processed meats, how do you replace them?  Well, you don’t.  You just replace the source of the nitrite.
Celery has a very high concentration of natural nitrate, and treating celery juice with a bacterial culture produces nitrite.  The concentrated juice can then be used to produce “no nitrite added” processed meat.  Curiously, regulations stipulate that the traditional curing process requires the addition of nitrite and thus “organic” processed meats that are treated with celery juice have to be labeled as “uncured.”
Such terminology is confusing because most consumers look to “organic” processed meats in order to avoid nitrites, but the fact is that these do contain nitrites, sometimes in lesser, sometimes in greater amounts than found in conventional products.  That’s because the amount of nitrite that forms from nitrate in celery juice is hard to monitor, while in conventionally cured processed meats, the addition of nitrite is strictly controlled by regulations designed to minimize nitrosamine formation and maximize protection against botulism.  This means any risk due to nitrosamine formation or bacterial contamination in the “organic” version is more challenging to evaluate.
So what does all of this mean?  Basically, that buying “organic” hot dogs or bacon with a view towards living longer by avoiding nitrites makes no sense.  Limiting such foods because of their high fat and salt content, whether organic or conventional, makes very good sense.  Cutting them out totally, as the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine would have us do?  No thanks.  Remember that it is unrealistic to evaluate every bite of food as being “healthy” or “unhealthy!”  It is the overall diet that matters.  It is possible to avoid cured meats completely and still have a terrible diet while one can have a healthy diet by occasionally indulging in these tasty morsels.  Emphasize a mostly plant-based diet?  By all means.  But dogmatic tirades against hot dogs?  That’s ideology, not science.

Tuesday 7 January 2014

Torta caprese

Ingredienti

300 g farina di mandorle300 g di cioccolato fondente250 g di burro200 g di zucchero5 uovaun pizzico di salezucchero a velo quanto basta mandorle sfilettate quanto basta

Preparazione


In un pentolino fate fondere il cioccolato con il burro a bagno maria; togliete il pentolino dal fuoco e fate freddare il composto mescolando di tanto in tanto.
Seprate gli albumi dai tuorli e montate gli albumi a neve aggiungendo un pizzico di sale, quindi riponeteli in frigorifero.
Montate i tuorli con lo zucchero fino ad ottenere un composto chiaro e spumoso.
Incorporate delicatamente il composto di cioccolato e burro e le mandorle  ai tuorli montati.
Unite al composto anche gli albumi, sempre mescolando dal basso verso l'alto per non smontare il composto.
Foderate con della carta forno uno stampo di 24 cm di diametro e versatevi il composto ottenuto.
Cuocete in forno a 180°C per circa un'ora (verificate sempre la cottura con la prova stecchino).
Sfornate la torta e fatela freddare, quindi sformatela ed adagiatela su di un vassoio per torte.
Prima di servire spolverizzatela con abbondante zucchero a velo e qualche mandorle sfilettata.

By Fernanda