Tag: Christmas

Abruzzese Christmas sweets: the sfogliatella – Italian Cuisine

Revisiting the original Neapolitan recipe, the sfogliatella has been the cake of the Abruzzo Christmas tradition for about a century

There Abruzzese puff pastry it is a traditional Christmas dessert that is still made by hand following an ancient recipe whose filling is typical of Abruzzo sweets: homemade or scrunched grape jam, cocoa powder, almonds, cinnamon.

History

It differs from the original sfogliatella due to its filling, but also because of the Abruzzese puff pastry it is softer with the thinner layers of dough. The origin of this dessert dates back to the early twentieth century, in Lama dei Peligni, and is attributed to Donna Annina Di Guglielmo who received the original Neapolitan sfogliatella recipe from her mother-in-law Francesca D'Antonio, noblewoman of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, on the occasion of a trip to Naples.
When, in 1902, she settled in Lama, Donna Annina modified the recipe adapting it to the availability of local ingredients and creating what would become an undisputed regional tradition, which began in the early 60's when the family cook shared the recipe with the country women who began to reproduce it.
The sheet became softer by adding the lard, of which there was great availability, while the filling was replaced with the typical products of the area.
The processing, very complex, for the preparation of the sheet is done by hand and provides 4 or 5 layers separated by loose lard, even if each family has created its own recipe with small, but significant, variants that require the replacement of lard with oil extra virgin olive oil or (rarely) butter.
We like the recipe that we propose because it is not based on the weight of the ingredients, but on a game of proportions, therefore on the skill and dexterity of those who make it!

Ingredients and procedure

dough
6 egg yolks
3 spoons of sugar
Place the egg whites in a glass and keep them as a unit of measurement.
In fact, the quantity of white wine and seed oil to be used will be equal to the quantity of egg whites that you have kept aside, but which will not be needed for the preparation.
Flour in the quantity necessary to obtain a consistent but soft dough.

Lard for brushing the dough.

Stuffed
Scrunched of Montepulciano grapes.
200 g grated dark chocolate
200 g shelled, toasted and chopped almonds
200 g of crumbled amaretti biscuits
Ground coffee and cinnamon
2 glasses of Punch Abruzzese liqueur
Zest of 1 grated orange

Secret: when you work the dough washer, and before putting the filling, remember to turn it over so that the dough is flaking.

Text by Romina Ciferni

Christmas breakfast – Italian cuisine – Italian Cuisine

From traditional panettone left over from Eve, to light and refreshing fruit salads, passing through proposals that smell like cinnamon: here are eleven suggestions for the morning of December 25th

There breakfast on December 25th it is a difficult meal, wedged between the Luculian New Year's Eve dinner and the King's lunch which will be on the table a few hours later. To unwrap the presents, however, you need energy, at least as much as it takes to endure the horde of relatives and the long bingo games with the family in the afternoon. With ours 11 ideas – both light and incredibly tasty – for Christmas breakfast you will have no difficulty facing the hardships of this festive day.

Diet I'm not afraid of you: 5 delicious ideas

At Christmas every dessert is worth. Perhaps this was not exactly the saying, but if, rightly, during the holidays you are not going to worry about the line, you are spoiled for choice. The great classics of the Christmas breakfast are the leftovers from the dinner (yes, there are also those who appreciate savory ones), panettone and pandoro.
If you need an extra dose of sweetness to bend over to your mother-in-law, the panforte it's what you need. The children – even those who are only inside – will appreciate the Christmas breakfast i holiday cookies, such as gingerbread cookies for example, with the hot chocolate.

The delicious and light Christmas breakfast in 3 proposals

Apparently there are also those who, in view of the lavish lunch, prefer keep light or it is still shattered by the dinner on December 24th. Also in this case, the suggestions for making a nice Christmas breakfast, perhaps with the whole family and between a gift and the other, are not lacking.
Often on the festive tables there is thepineapple, served as a meal after a while because it is exotic and refined, a little because it is considered digestive and detoxifying. If there are a few slices left, eat it in fruit salad with almonds, another inevitable food at Christmas. An alternative for a fruit breakfast is one tangerine fruit salad – citrus symbol of the holidays – e walnuts or, third suggestion that will especially appeal to children, is based on Kiwi: peel them, cut them in half and then into slices, arranging them on a triangular-shaped plate, mimic the stylized shape of the Christmas tree. Decorate with some raspberries or currants to simulate the decorations and you will get a fruit salad that you can't do more Christmas.

3 ideas for a first meal that smells like Christmas

If Christmas were a perfume, it would be the spicy one of cinnamon. Unthinkable, then, not to suggest any ideas to ensure that the Christmas atmosphere has spread in the air since the morning of December 25th. Milk, yogurt, a ripe banana, a drop of honey, a pinch of ginger and lots of cinnamon are the ingredients to prepare one smoothie dense and greedy, to be drunk alone or combined with another of our proposals.
Another themed breakfast is the christmas granola paired with yogurt, worked with honey and cinnamon or a fast mini strudel: simple puff pastry stuffed with diced apples, pine nuts, raisins and cinnamon, closed to form a bundle and then baked in the oven. The ice cream, with which the typical South Tyrolean dessert is often served, is not much for breakfast, but ricotta sweetened with honey and whipped with whips definitely yes.

At Christmas the aspic triumphs – Italian Cuisine

It has a scenographic aspect, it can be sweet or salty and it is perfect as a centerpiece for party dinners. Furthermore, it can be prepared in advance because it is served cold

The aspic it is a cooked and then cooled preparation, which can be salty or sweet. It is prepared with meats, fish, vegetables, fruit or with several foods together and enclosed in a gelatin wrapper. It is an impressive dish, due to its shape and transparency, which reveals the ingredients of which it is composed. The origin of the name of this recipe is French, but the use of gelatin was already known to Romans and Egyptians who used it as a glue.

The most suitable containers

Given the flashy nature of this recipe, the containers to prepare it must be just as special. Those with spikes or spiers are very good, but in the absence of these, the molds are just as good donut-shaped, of conical trunk, of pudding or those for plumcake, for a result always very scenographic. They are usually made of copper, glass or porcelain.

How to use gelatine

The gelatine, so called because the sturgeon's swim bladder was initially used for its production, is now mostly composed of pork rind. To use it you must leave the sheets soaking in cold water for at least 10-15 minutes. Afterwards, they are squeezed and allowed to dissolve in the liquid that must be gelled.

The fruits to avoid

Not all fruits go well with jelly: pineapple, kiwi, papaya and figs, they contain enzymes that break the ligaments of gelatin into many fragments, so that a solid structure can no longer be formed. This fruit basically dissolves the gelatin wrap, reducing it to a formless compound.

Gordon Ramsay Recipes