ITALIAN FOODIES

We’re off to Genova on Thursday and the weather isn’t looking too good at the moment, they’re having pretty bad weather up the north - it’s probably because we’re coming;), The forecast for Thursday when we arrive is really bad thunder storms and Genova airport is bad enough for landings as it is, so I’m really looking forward to that. As you may have noticed there hasn’t been much cooking going on around here with everything that’s going on but I did manage to make this simple tart on Saturday which is so quick and easy and probably takes the same time as making a toasted sandwich. My 2 new finds this week were individual puff pastry rounds, why did nobody tell me about these???, they are soooo handy and Superquin are now stocking sliced pancetta. It’s not the best I’ve ever had but at least they have it in stock, I know this might be hard to imagine but it was impossible to buy sliced pancetta in Limerick up until now. 

what you need, I’m not going to give measurements as it is so simple so I’ll leave it up to you:

- puff pastry

- cherry tomatoes

- goat’s cheese

- thyme

- pancetta(optional, it’s lovely without too)

- pesto or tapenade (optional)

 - beaten egg or milk

 - sea salt and black pepper

- olive oil

what to do:

 - pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees.

 - prick the base of your pastry with a fork and layer your sliced goat’s cheese on top making sure to leave space at the edges.

 - arrange your tomatoes on top, season and sprinkle with thyme. Egg wash the edges of your pastry.

 - cook for 20 mins until the pastry is risen, crisp and golden brown.

 - heat a frying pan and cook your pancetta for a couple of mins until crisp and serve on top of your tart.

 - sprinkle some goats cheese on top, drizzle with a little olive oil and serve with a simple rocket salad.

buon appetito!!

p.s. see you soon and try not to miss me too much:)

Ciao
xxxxx

Eraclea hot chocolate - milk chocolate, dark chocolate, chilli, orange, hazlenut, white chocolate and low fat?? why bother;)

Rocky Road:

Biscuit cake:

Caramel slice:

white chocolate, cranberry & pistachio slice:

chocolate kebab - fudge, marshmallow and fruit pastille

All of the above are supplied by Wildes Irish Chocolates, the most popular is definitley the rocky road, we have a thing for marshmalllows in this country:)

Ciao!

We’re off to Italy next week on a one-way ticket and with the weather the way it is at the moment, I wonder if we will even come back:) We’re going North this time spending a week in a little beach town called Deva Marina which is situated near Genova and then taking a flight to Rome and heading to Atina for a week or a year. The MIL is from Genova and we haven’t been in a few years so I’m really excited, the camera is charged and ready to go. I doubt we will be eating out much though as Bru’s Zia Maura is an amazing cook and they have a fabulous house up in the hills with a huge terrace which includes an outside pizza oven looking out over the village. Bru’s cousin Roberto and his girlfriend own the only bar in the village on the beach so that’s the alcohol looked after too, we are just sooo spoilt!! 

In case you think I have forgotten my “behind the scenes” of opening the new place, I haven’t, we are still waiting to sign the lease. Both sets of solicitors are on holidays at the moment and are back next week so it “should” be official then. I have my photos and everything ready to go, we are still really busy with it regardless getting the plans passed with the health board and fire chief and coming up with the design for the restaurant floor. 

Not much summer cooking going on at the moment so an “old reliable” today, I haven’t eaten beef stroganoff in years and have pretty bad memories of it when growing up as it featured regularly in our house with the sauce made from a packet - “gasp” so I have stayed away from it until I saw it on Deb’s blog recently and decided to give it a second chance. I found a recipe in the Silver Spoon of all places and I have to say we really enjoyed it. It’s not a recipe that would regularly feature or your heart would suffer with all the butter and cream but it is perfect for these wintry nights in July:( 

                                                 
what you need:

 - 500g mushrooms sliced

 - 1 onion sliced

 - juice of half a lemon

 - plain flour

 - 250ml double cream

 - 1/2 tsp sugar

 - 1 tsp strong mustard

 - 2 fillet or sirloin steaks cut into strips

 - salt and pepper

 - butter

what to do:

 - melt a large knob of butter in a frying pan, add the onions and cook over a low heat until softened and golden brown for about 10 mins.

 - add the mushrooms and lemon juice, cover and simmer for about 10 mins, remove the mixture from the pan and set aside.

 - melt some more butter, season your steak pieces and coat in flour and add to your pan and cook for a few minutes, I like mine rare.

 - add your mushroom mix back into the pan with your steak and add your cream, sugar and season. Leave to simmer for a few minutes to let the sauce thicken.

-  remove from the heat and stir in your mustard.

 - serve with rice like Deb, matchstick chips like Rick Stein or baked potatoes like the “Italian foodies”:)

buon appetito!!