Alterkitchen

Some scents inevitably bring me back to certain seasons, certain places or specific moments in the past. They say that smell is a very powerful sense, able to activate memory quicker than the other senses.

I can't call myself a "smell fetishistic", but I can't deny that the scent of a person, the comforting aroma of freshly baked bread or the smell of certain herbs are "odorous sensations" that remain dormant in the brain, ready to wake up at the first opportunity.

Maybe it's because I took the "nose" from my father, not esthetically (I got the shape but not the size .. I don't mean to be rude, but I got lucky), but on a sensory level .. maybe I owe him my sense of smell to him not only for the genes, but for the "training" .. in many pictures of me as a child with my father, he is making me smell some lavender, some rosemary or who knows what other herb.
May this have influenced my smell development? I don't know, but I like to think so.

And, if some smells bring back autumn (roasted chestnuts or the smell or underwood, mushrooms), summer (the smell of salt or sun cream) or spring atmospheres (the spring has its own characteristic smell, and I believe it comes from the life that springs up again after the winter lethargy), there are some smells that come along the winter .. in these days we are surrounded by the smell of snow ("What does snow smell like?" you'd ask … I think it has a smell, but I can't describe it or define it), but there are some smells and combination of smells that they "scent" like winter, warm house, steaming tea.

In my opinion the scent of cinnamon, honey and baked apples are among winter scents.. so why don't combine them in a muffin?

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I am not a voracious meat eater, I don't stuff myself with steaks, stews, burgers, chickens and patties, and it's not because I don't like them (on the contrary), but simply because I eat many more vegetables than proteins or carbs. What can I do if I go crazy for every single vegetable?!

But (and I've already told you, there's always a but) I can't say no to a great piece of meat cooked like it deserves, aka not overcooked. I believe that, under the right conditions, I could kill for a Fiorentina, or a nice Frisona (a Piedmontese cow) T-Bone steak.

But I'd settle even for "less", for example a nice piece of sirloin, briefly and simply cooked. Here, if you're searching for a dish that has these two traits, the beef medallions hugged by lardo are just perfect.

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The amazing things in life are the unforeseen, unexpected ones, those small or insignificant details that deviate from the usual order of events and that, therefore, affect us. And, in my humble opinion, the things that amaze me are often the object of an instantaneous (and lasting) sympathy or attraction.

In fact, I often feel an immediate sympathy for a person who seems to have a sterling character, but who is unleashed, for a "grave" person who hides an unexpected sarcasm or for a "tough but soft-hearted" man. Well, I can't help it, I feel the same thing about food: I am always impressed (and I instantly adore it) by a food that seems something and that ends up being completely different.

Believe me, when you'll have in front of you this small flan (that from the outside looks like an ordinary chocolate cake) and, sinking in your teaspoon, you'll trigger a chocolaty lava flow, you'll agree with me … the things that astound your senses are the ones that attract and conquer you (and, if chocolate is involved, how can you resist?!).

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Two days ago I came back home late and I started thinking I should comb through all the new recipes posted on my favorite blogs, but then I found myself thinking that maybe I should update my own blog before thinking about the other ones … but, while I was combing through other people's blogs (I think one thing and then I do the exact opposite), I found out from Sigrid that December 17th was the Ossobuco alla Milanese World Day (every year the GVCI chose to dedicate a World Day to a specific dish of Italian Cuisine, and this year it was dedicated to the ossobuco alla Milanese).

Of course, this is not like forgetting your father's birthday, forgetting your car keys into the car or forgetting to take the gloves with you when outside it's freezing (and I forgot the last thing three times in three freezing days), but, since my ossobuco alla Milanese's recipe was waiting to be published for a while (I learned this recipe in the cooking class dedicated to meat dishes I attended a few months ago – but I already talked about it here) this seemed to me a great opportunity to write about this great winter comfort food.

And so, if you excuse me for my delay, I celebrate the marrowbones, too (and the "two days after" gives an apocalyptic twist, too).

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The Tarte Tatin is not an easy dessert, but a simple one. And, like all the simple dessert, made with a few ingredients, it needs to be done with all the care that it deserves to be really good.

We have to make a good caramel sauce, to ​​carefully slice the apples, cover them in pâte brisée (or puff pastry, if you prefer) and make sure that this little masterpiece doesn't burn, so that, once you've pulled it out of the oven and turned it upside down, it stays perfect like you've dreamed, ready to be eaten slightly cooled down, served with some semi-whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream, but also in its simple perfection.

The simplicity of the Tarte Tatin, however, lies also in its possible speeding, if you use ready made pâte brisée (or puff pastry). I know that home-made dough is an all different thing, that no one knows what ingredients are there in the ready made one .. I agree with your hesitations, but (there's always a but) let's say you have so many apples and no butter (but you have a ready made pâte brisée in your freezer), let's say you have to make a quick dessert for some unattended guests or let's say you simply feel the irresistible urge to have a slice of Tarte Tatin or you feel the irresistible urge to spend a Parisian afternoon … well, in these cases don't give up … home-made is better, but sometimes home-made could be sacrificed (at least in my humble opinion).

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As I already told you some time ago, I have the "ear" mania (aka when I read a cook book or a magazine, I dog ear every interesting page), or I write down memos on loose sheets of paper (which inevitably accumulate and mix with other memos scattered around the desk) an endless list of dishes that sooner or later I will definitely have to try in my life. Since I added in Google Reader the feeds of my favorite blogs, I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel … there are more stars (bookmark simbols) in my reader than in the Milky Way.

Among the recipes in my culinary wish list from time out of mind there's the Danubio (Danube), which is everything, except a dish of northern origins (as the name would suggest): in fact, it seems that this name was given in honor of Mario Scaturchio's (a Neapolitan pastry chef) Austrian aunt, inventor of this recipe. There are also two other stories related to this name: the first says that this name came from its shape, similar to a watery surface rippled by the waves (romantic version); the other one sees in this name a reference to the arrival of Viennese cooks in Naples as Bourbons' retinue in the second half of the XVIII century (historic version, a little less charming, but perhaps more accurate). Name aside, this is a great Southern recipe, from Campania, one of those rich, magnificent (do you remember the babà rustico, right?) recipe, completely customizable to your every taste and preference (there's also a sweet Danubio).

But, that's for sure, this dish is perfect for a dinner with friends, where each guest can take his/her roll from the Danubio and eat it with his/her hands (the kind of finger food that everyone loves), drinking some Prosecco, a good beer or what he/she prefers with it. I made the Danubio (indeed, two Danubi) on New Year's Eve, and I must say that he didn't disappoint anyone.. maybe it's because I followed Tery's infallible recipe?!

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Surviving from Christmas Eve, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, lunches, at the gate (perhaps) the Epiphany lunch, and here I am suggesting you to make chocolates?

I'll answer in a simple and honest way: yes, because the new year deserves sweetness… maybe it'll decide to bring something good with it (do you want to attract bad luck not celebrating it with the due courtesy?!).

So, despite all the lunches, dinners and aperitifs, roll up your sleeves and let's make something sweet (but not too much, they are still dark chocolates) and aromatic (orange flavored) to gain favors with 2012.

… Then maybe the Mayans are right and all this will be useless!

HAPPY NEW (and maybe last) YEAR!

Today my post is featured on Helene's blog, Masala Herb.. go check it out!

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Today is the last day of the year (I'm the queen of the useful and surprising statements), it's time for celebratory/memorial and summary posts.

This 2011 brought me a degree, but no job (rather, it brought me discontinuous jobs and not even one of them minimally connected and worthy of that degree .. oh well), it took away something from me (and only time will tell if this was bad or good), but it brought me new things and people, it allowed me to strengthen relationships, it made me rediscover the value of friendship, of sharing, of joy for others' happiness.

The year 2011 brought me this blog (well, it didn't brought it to me, but don't be too literal) and, with it, recipes, laughter, new friends, exchange and follies (I won't forget my panettone at 1 AM as long as I live).

Until yesterday I would have said goodbye to 2011 with a nice FUCK YOU (I would have screamed that), for those things that have been taken from me, for the lost opportunities, for the dissatisfactions and the defeats. But then, with a more lucid thinking, I thought about the fact that, as a friend of mine says, the glass is always half full, maybe half full with air, but still half full .. and so I say goodbye to 2011 with a more serene SCREW YOU (were you expecting a "thank you and goodbye"?! I haven't softened to this point), asking politely (they say that good manners help) to 2012, if it can, to be at least a bit better. Thank you.

But, to say a proper goodbye to the past year, which coincides with almost 12 months of blogging, I leave you a picture and a recipe for each month (well, since I didn't have January, I chose two recipe from March .. but changing the order of the addends, the result remains the same, uh?!), leaving you some sort of illustrated calendar (if you do not like, though, next year I could make a pornographic calendar of my dog, so you'll learn your lesson!)
 

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What can I say about Panettone, except that it's the Italian Christmas dessert par excellence (for me Panettone is way way better than Pandoro)?! That I think that the scent could revive dead persons? That its softness could melt even the most hard-hearted?

No, I prefer to say that this year I wanted to allow myself this experiment, repeated twice: the first time I failed (a wrong and too long rising, which led to a very good Panettone, but drier than it should be),  while the second Panettone was phenomenal, also thanks to Morena from Menta e Cioccolato, this recipe's mom and the one who suggested me not to give up and who gave me some successful tips.

With this Panettone (which will cut itself by magic in exact the number of slices needed for all of you) I wish you to spend a happy and peaceful Christmas, reveling surrounded by your loved ones (I have to wish you something food-related). And I wish you that this Christmas will bring you everything that you want.

And, last but not least, I want to thank you all for your patience in reading my rigmarole, for the affection, attention and support I feel in your every comment and every e-mail. Thank you all and, sincerely, Merry Christmas.

… don't worry, now I leave you the recipe!
 

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Here we are, today is the beloved or dreaded Christmas Eve, a day about preparations: clean up house, cooking (I have to make coniglio al civet -a rabbit stew- and bread for tomorrow's lunch), wrap the last gifts and, in my case, pack the edible gifts (so that they don't lose their fragrance, hopefully). I know that I skimped on: I didn't write about a lot of recipes for home-made gifts, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise to my closest friends.

But today I can at least reveal the first secret of Fatima, about my sweet and cute Gingerbread men, that remind me of the one from the movie Shrek. Of course, this isn't an Italian sweet, but I like these spicy cookies so much, and I find that they smell like winter, like homely warmth, like Christmas. Also, once you've decorated them (although I did a very simple decoration) with glaze, they'll become very cute and nice: they can almost talk!

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