Oh, yes, that’s fat!

(And it’s a pity you can’t see it bubbling…) That’s the fat from merguezes! Better: those merguezes are home made by my Halal butcher just down the street! I love to buy my lamb at the Halal butcher because it has more taste that the lamb that is normally sell in Italy: too young for

Carrot cakes

Carrots in the fridge (and not much else)…Sun and a wonderful blue sky outside (glorious today in Milan, looks like spring!)…What possibly can I do if not baking little carrot cakes from a Donna Hay book (always the same one…)???I halved the recipe, as we couldn’t possibly eat for 5 day a big cake, and

Those ugly little scones…

Or how to make scones for an afternoon tea with no all purpose flour in the house and the last time you shopped on line instead of normal cow milk you bought goat milk… This afternoon some friends are coming over, so we decided we could indulge in a little English tea party, at 5

Waiter, there’s something in my… (cheese) pie!!!

What can you possibly do when you have some fresh cheese near the expiration date and you have this intense urge to eat a cheese focaccia???3 options:1. Throw the cheese in the bin, take a train and head to Recco, eat hot cheese focaccia, go back on the train and head home with belly happily

Maple syrup muffins

I love maple syrup: is a late discovery in my life, but since then I would use it for anything, from marinade to cakes, from savoury sauces to sweet sauces…A dear friend sent me from Canada a nice bottle of true maple syrup and as she’s hosting one of her numerous events this month on

Macarons au chocolat et cointreau

Oops, I did it again (no, I’m not Britney Spears fan…)! And this time, chocolatey, my favourites…But lets get through the recipe, as it would be simple writing it in Italian, but in a foreign language, you know… I will take it step by step. 6 days before you intend TO EAT your macarons, take

The best chocolate ever?

I don’t know if this is (was) the best chocolate in the world, but for sure is the best chocolate I’ve ever tried…Pierre Marcolini is a well known Belgian chocolatier and this carré was a present from a dear friend that went to Bruxelles and thought of me… I normally prefer dark chocolate, but I

Mushroom soup/pâté

Well, I love mushrooms, any and all kind! As I live in Italy, in autumn is quite normal to find fresh porcini at the market, altogether with many other wood mushrooms. Of course the most widespread mushrooms that you can find everywhere, all year long, are champignon. And as we produce so good dried porcini,

Cozze e broccoli

Cozze e broccoli

I had this idea in mind: a nice dish of pasta with mussels and broccoli. The problem was, as you can understand from the picture, that I cooked broccoli too much and all I end up with were just the stalks, while the nice green flowers were all over my sink… So, in the recipe,

Banana, pear and chocolate crumble

It was ages I wanted to try this recipe from the wonderful book Crumbles by Camille Le Foll. And then one merry day I had all the ingredients in the house and some friend to dine with, so I though it was the right moment! 3 pears2 bananas3 pieces of candied ginger For the crumbles:100