Warning: Use of undefined constant WPE_CLUSTER_ID - assumed 'WPE_CLUSTER_ID' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpengine-common/plugin.php on line 14

Warning: Use of undefined constant PWP_NAME - assumed 'PWP_NAME' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpengine-common/wpe-sec.php on line 63
winter Archives - Dinner in Venice

Potato Puree


Warning: preg_match(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 1110

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 618

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 625

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 618

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 625

S 4 950 2 pure

The term “comfort food” originated in the US, and I’ve heard it used In Italy only recently, mostly by food-bloggers. That’s not to say that we didn’t have comfort food before, we just didn’t have a name for it. On top of that, our choices are often different. Where you go for hamburgers, we dig into spaghetti; when you take out the ice cream, we open the Nutella jar. There is one exception, a unifying, universal ingredient: mashed potatoes.  In Northern Italy, when a mom wants to comfort her kids after a not-so-great grade at school, a broken heart, or simply a long week of rain, she will serve this crowd-pleaser as a side: Pure’ di patate  (potato puree), a silky, creamy and scrumptuous blend of starchy potatoes, milk and butter.

While mashed potatoes can be dry, lumpy, hyper-garlicky, and even gloppy, puree is velvety smooth, and will win the pickiest palates over with its decadence. Not even your carb-phobic friends will be able to resist it.

* for a non-dairy version, replace the butter and milk with olive oil and vegetable broth.

* *if you are watching your weight, you could replace the whole milk with 1% and halve the butter; but do add some butter for flavor.

*** If you need to reheat it, you should add a little more hot milk or broth.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 pounds starchy potatoes (Yukon gold or russet, not too young)
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup milk, or a little more
  • salt to taste
  • a pinch of nutmeg

Directions

Cook the potatoes with the peel (whole, if they are small-ish, or halved or quartered if they are very large) in a pot of salted boiling water (30-45 minutes). If you are in a rush, you can cook them much faster in a pressure cooker or even in the microwave (about 15 minutes). Test them with a fork to make sure they are soft, and drain, discarding the cooking water. Allow them to cool until they are still very warm but not too hot to handle, and peel them.

1757_1 Patate

Put them through a ricer or potato masher, gathering them back into the pot. Place the top over low heat and add the butter, and then slowly the hot milk, stirring with a wooden spoon.

STEP 3 PURE' BICOLORE

Keep stirring until the puree is soft, smooth and silky! Adjust the salt, add a pinch of nutmeg, and serve immediately.

S 10 880 PURE DI PATATE

 

Potato Puree

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

1 hour

6 servings

CALORIES AND FAT: ignorance is bliss!

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds starchy potatoes (Yukon gold or russet, not too young)
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup milk, or a little more
  • salt to taste
  • a pinch of nutmeg

Directions

Cook the potatoes with the peel (whole, if they are small-ish, or halved or quartered if they are very large) in a pot of salted boiling water (30-45 minutes). If you are in a rush, you can cook them much faster in a pressure cooker or even in the microwave (about 15 minutes). Test them with a fork to make sure they are soft, and drain, discarding the cooking water.

Allow them to cool until they are still very warm but not too hot to handle; peel them, and put them through a ricer or potato masher, gathering them back into the pot.

Place the top over low heat and add the butter, and then slowly the hot milk, stirring with a wooden spoon. As you add milk, you can also switch to a whisk. Keep stirring until the puree is soft,

Smooth and silky! Adjust the salt, add a pinch of nutmeg, and serve immediately.

* for a non-dairy version, replace the butter and milk with olive oil and vegetable broth.

* if you are watching your weight, you could replace the whole milk with 1%, but do add some butter for flavor.

* If you need to reheat it, you should add a little more hot milk or broth.

https://dinnerinvenice.com/2013/01/18/potato-puree/

 

 

Puff Strudel with Chocolate, Hazelnuts and Pears (Sfogliata al Gianduja e Pere)


Warning: preg_match(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 1110

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 618

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 625

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 618

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 625

Sfogliata Gianduja e Pere (Puff Strudel with Chocolate, Hazelnuts and Pears) (Dairy or Parve)

The combination of hazelnuts and chocolate is wildly popular in Italy – I’m sure you have heard of Nutella!  The original version is Gianduja – a concoction made of chocolate and hazelnuts invented in Turin during the Napoleonic blockade, when the precious cocoa beans had become scarce and the famous Piedmontese chocolatiers had to find a way to make them go further-. It didn’t hurt, of course, that their hazelnuts (from the Langhe area of Piedmont) were said to be the best in the world, and that Turin was the birthplace of solid chocolate. As you can imagine, the result was much more interesting than other hard-times-inspired products (such as the French chicory “coffee”), and even after the end of the blockade the Torinese kept enjoying their new delicacy, and named it “gianduja” after a local marionette character.

Besides enjoying the tasty combo in the form of a spread or in confections (the delicious gianduiotti – the first-ever chocolates to be individually wrapped!), make sure you try my gianduja puff cake!

Ingredients

1 pound of puff pastry (home-made, or 1 package store-bought)
3 medium pears
5 ounces dark chocolate (I used 70 % Scharffen Berger) 
½ cup ground hazelnuts
6 chocolate-flavored tea biscuits, or small biscottis
2/3 cup (scant) sugar
pinch of salt
1 organic lemon
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons butter, or hazelnut or almond oil
2 tablespoons milk (or non-dairy almond or soy milk)
flour (to dust the counter)

Directions

Peel and core the pears, slice them thinly and combine them with the lemon juice, the sugar, and the grated lemon zest. Grate the chocolate and coarsely chop the cookies. If using butter, melt it in a pan or in your microwave.
On a floured surface, roll out the pastry into a rectangle and brush the top with the melted butter or oil; top with the crumbled cookies, the drained pears, and the grated chocolate. Roll up the pastry as if making a strudel, sealing the edges and closing the ends.
Brush the top with the yolk (mixed with a couple of tablespoons of milk or parve almond or soy milk) and bake in a pre-heated 250 F oven for about 30 minutes or until golden. Enjoy warm or at room temperature, on a cold winter night :-) .

Italian Hot Chocolate (Cioccolata Calda)


Warning: preg_match(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 1110

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 618

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 625

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 618

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/customer/www/dinnerinvenice.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/hover-pin-it/lib/simple_html_dom.php on line 625

Image

Most of us know that the Mayas and their ancestors were already gobbling unsweetened hot cocoa 2000 years ago. Some historians believe that we also have to thank the Jews – for introducing sweet, hot chocolate drinks to Europe. In fact, many Conversos fleeing the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition ended up in South America in the early 1500s, where they learned how to grow and process the cocoa beans, which they started exporting to the Old Continent, together with cane sugar. Hot chocolate and coffee were both such a hit In many parts of Europe, that they put many wine bars out of business. In Venice alone, where the first coffee house in Europe was opened around 1645, some 400 (!) more sprouted in the next 150 years. However, while most could afford coffee, because it was imported directly from Arabia, chocolate (which came from the Americas and had to pass through many intermediaries) was expensive, and for a while it remained an exclusive habit enjoyed by the aristocracy, the wealthy merchants and the high clergy.   I hope I’ll make you feel just as fancy as you slowly sip a cup of this thick Italian-style cioccolata!

  • 4 oz bitterweet chocolate (or 4-5 tsps unsweetened cocoa powder)
  • 1/3 cup whole milk
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
  • a small pinch of sea salt
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoon potato starch

With Cocoa: Place the cocoa, potato starch, salt  and sugar in a small and heavy or non-stick saucepan. Add the milk very slowly, whisking continuously (use a whisk, not a spoon to avoid clumps). Move the saucepan to the stovetop, and bring to a boil on low heat, stirring continuously; allow to simmer for about one minute or until it thickens and serve accompanied by small cookies.
With Chocolate: use only  high -quality dark chocolate (at least 60 percent cocoa – the more, the merrier!); place  a saucepan with the chocolate  in a large pan of shallow warm water, and bring the water to a gentle simmer on top of a range until the chocolate has melted. Add the milk, sugar, salt and potato starch to the chocolate very slowly, stirring continuously; discard the pan of water and place the saucepan with the chocolate on the flame; on low heat, bring to a boil and allow to simmer until it has thickened to perfect creaminess.