member blog: allora andiamo
allora andiamo
From
Sauerkraut Country
Member since
6th Oct 2008
About
I'm 42 years young and LOVE cooking. My family is originally from Italy and my Mum was a fantastic cook. She cooked us the most wonderful dishes and I have fond memories of sitting round the dinner table with my family, eating great food that had been prepared with one very special ingredient...LOVE. This is still important to me today and I could never just throw a ready meal in the microwave and serve it up to my family. I think good food isn't about expensive ingredients or making plates look like works of art but about making food that's tasty and will make your friends and family come back for seconds :)
Oh and we tend to eat mostly Italian in our house but I will try anything and everything that looks and tastes good :) If the food i've made looks good i'll take a piccy of it too,much to the annoyance of my hubby,who will have to wait patiently whilst i take the umpteenth photo,lol.
allora andiamo's blog posts
roast chicken.....almost done
Mon 27 Oct 2008GENERAL BLOG
i decided to make a roast chicken for sunday dinner and it turned out beautifully. i cooked it the way my mum used to, with potatoes,onions, garlic,lemon and some wine and herbs. the aroma was unbelievable and the delicious smell wafted its way through the whole house...the poor dog tormented himself by sitting next to the fan oven, waiting patiently for it to finish cooking and every time the cat walked past, the dog would growl at him and chase him off into the living room 
it's a shame you can't bottle the aroma of roast chicken (or can you ??)..if anybody can, and is thinking of going into production, please let me know.i would like to place an order for 10 bottles 
.
here's the recipe:
1 chicken (mine was about 3ibs, roasted for just over an hour at 200C)
1 med onion, sliced
as much garlic as you can handle, cut into thick chunks
4-5 large potatoes
about 2 glasses of white wine
a few sprigs (or more !) of thyme and rosemary (i chop some of them finely and leave the rest whole)
1 lemon (grate the rind finely, then cut in half and pop it inside the chicken)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for drizzling
Don't forget to pre-heat your oven to 200C 
1) Peel and slice the potatoes into long chunks (a bit like thick chips) and place them in your roasting tin.
2) Throw in the garlic, onions, about half the herbs and season with salt and black pepper.
3) Drizzle over some oil and using your hands, rub the oil mixture into the vegetables making sure they're well coated.
4) Now pop the chicken in the roasting tin and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle on the rest of the chopped herbs, lemon rind and some salt and pepper, rubbing them into the chicken .
5) Pour the wine down the side of the roasting tin, cover with foil then pop it in the oven to roast. Baste with the oil/juices a couple of times whilst its roasting.
6) About 15mins before the end of cooking time, remove the foil and pop the chicken back into the oven,increasing the temperature to about 220C or use the grill function on your oven if you have one.
7) When its ready, cover it back up with the foil and let it rest for 10-15mins before slicing.
I served mine with sliced green beans, steamed carrots and some ciabatta bread for dipping into the lovely juices.
Enjoy !
drying candied lemon peel....
Sat 25 Oct 2008GENERAL BLOG
...soaked overnight then cooked in a sugar syrup till opaque. rolled them in sugar and now have to wait patiently for them to dry
their new home will be a limoncello cupcake with a lemon cream cheese topping
what started off as simple fried eggs...
Fri 24 Oct 2008GENERAL BLOG
..ended up becoming a breakfast tortilla of sorts. hubby was home today so we had brekkie (or rather brunch 
) together. we both fancied some fried eggs but I thought i'd try something different so ended up making these..just warmed through a tortilla (suppose you could use a chapati instead) fried a couple of eggs then sprinkled them with garlic slices, chopped tomatoes, chilli slices, fresh coriander and some salt & black pepper. it tasted bloomin' marvellous and i think this could become a firm favourite in our household.hmmmmm...a bit of crispy bacon might taste good on there ,maybe using chopped flat leaf parsley instead of the coriander
Risotto alla Milanese
Thu 23 Oct 2008GARDEN BLOG
You would usually serve this with Osso Buco(braised veal shanks) but we fancied a meat free meal today, so just served it as it was, pure and simple.
1) Using a large pot, heat the olive oil then add 2 tbsp of the butter.
2) Once melted, add the onion and cook gently till they're soft ,but not browned.
3) Add the rice and stir gently for about 3 minutes (a wooden spoon is best) making sure the rice is well coated with the butter/oil mix.
4) Now add the wine. Once its absorbed, add your first ladel of hot broth (including the saffron), stirring all the time.
5) Once the liquid has been absorbed you can add the next ladel of hot stock.
6) Continue adding hot stock(and stirring), waiting till the stock is completely absorbed before adding more.
7) After about 15mins, you can start to check the rice, to see how its doing, adding a little more stock if necessary.When its ready, it should be tender and creamy, but still a little firm to the bite.
8) Remove the pan from the heat, then beat in the rest of the butter and the parmesan cheese, till creamy and shiny. Pop a lid on it and let it rest for a minute or two before serving.
Feta in Herb,Garlic and Chilli Oil
Thu 23 Oct 2008GARDEN BLOG
1) Pat the feta cheese dry and cut into cubes (about 1.5cms)
2) Slice the chill and garlic into thin slices.
3) Take a clean jar (i used a 500ml jar in the picture) and start by adding a
layer of cheese,some garlic, a couple of olives and some of the herbs.
4) Keep layering till the jar is completely full.
5) Pour over the olive oil, tapping the jar on the counter occasionally to get rid of
any bubbles that may have formed.
6) Fill with olive oil until the cheese and herbs are completely covered.
7) Seal the jars tightly and store in a cool, dark place for about 7 days to allow
flavours to develop.
You can also add sun dried tomatoes to the cheese if you like. I usually do, but i'd ran out of them.
allora andiamo's foodwise posts
