Tag: gourmet

Loretta Fanella, the recipe for a gourmet breakfast – Italian Cuisine

Four signature desserts to accompany the coffee with a path of delicious and unforgettable flavors. The perfect recipes and combinations

Loretta Fanella, the pastry chef who boasts a training based on Adrià Ferran and Carlo Cracco, told us about her new passion for pairings in front of a really special breakfast. With Lavazza, he has for the first time tackled the topic of pastry coffee seen as a pairing rather than proposing it among the ingredients. The aromas and scents encountered in the different coffees become theinspiration to create special desserts, able to recall the notes of the mixtures and highlight their peculiarities.
"Although at the beginning it may seem a complex operation, it actually becomes simple with a little experience. I learned, for example, to combine cherry, mango and tropical fruit in general with coffee. Then there are ingredients like hazelnut that perfectly match the coffee: a marriage explored in some regions such as Piedmont and Campania, but which deserves to be known throughout the Italian territory , he told us when we met her at Identità Golose .

The sweets that Loretta Fanella created for Lavazza

Here then are the dessert recipes signed by Loretta Fanella which we tasted in conjunction with Lavazza coffees Classic Collection, a selection dedicated to Italian espresso connoisseurs. Glod Selection, Top Class and Gran Riserva, designed to explore the different facets of coffee and choose the one we like best based on body, aroma and taste (aromatic, intense or balanced). And after having tasted them all and found what you like best, all that remains is to prepare these amazing desserts to enjoy your dream breakfast and pamper yourself a little.

Orange and carrot plumcake

Here it refers to the classic combination of hazelnut and coffee thanks to the hazelnut flour and the pleasantness of orange is also explored thanks to the grated skins.

Ingredients: 200 g of soft butter, 150 g of sugar, a pinch of salt, 3 whole eggs, 150 g of julienne carrots, bof two grated oranges, 90 g of hazelnut flour, 150 g of flour, 16 g of baking powder

Method: Whip the butter with the sugar and salt. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well. Combine the carrot and orange peel and finally the flour with the baking powder. Place small paper muffin cups inside and cook at 175 ° for about 10 minutes.

Dark tart

Dark chocolate and coffee, the combination is perfect. To make it even richer, the pastry chef decorated the chocolate filling with a roasted coffee bean. Very good!

Ingredients for cocoa pastry: 200 g of butter, 200 g of sugar, 25 g of egg yolks, 70 g of eggs, 400 g of pastry flour, 50 g of cocoa, 4 g of baking powder, a pinch of salt
Ingredients for chocolate filling: 350 g of dark chocolate 70%, 250 g of fresh cream, 50 g of butter

Method: Work the soft butter with the icing sugar. Add the eggs and finish with the sieved powders. Spread the dough between two sheets of baking paper and let it cool for about two hours. Make a disc with a 3 cm diameter metal ring, cut and lay the edges about 3 cm high and pierce the base with a fork. Bake at 175 ° for about 8 minutes.
For the stuffing: sheat the cream with honey. Melt the chocolate and gently add the cream creating an emulsion. Pour the mixture over the pastry base and decorare to taste.

Dark chocolate mint

It might seem like a risky idea, yet mint goes very well with coffee. Seeing is believing.

Ingredients for the dark chocolate shell: 500 g of tempered dark chocolate
Ingredients for mint ganache: 100 g of fresh cream, 30 g of glucose, 120 g of sugar, 100 g of dark chocolate, 2 drops of mint essential oil

Method: Fill the polycarbonate molds with tempered chocolate. Wait a minute and empty; beat well to remove excess chocolate and leave to crystallize for 12 hours in a cool, dry place.
Heat the cream with glucose and sugar. Pour over chocolate and melt it. Pass an immersion mixer and add the mint. Let it cool to 30 ° and fill the chocolate shells. Allow the chocolates to crystallize and close with tempered chocolate.

For the milk chocolate and salted caramel bar

In this case, we focus everything on cinnamon, capable of enhancing the spicy soul of the coffee. Loretta also wanted to recall the habit of enriching coffee with cinnamon, often experimented also with cappuccino.

Ingredients for cinnamon pastry: 275 g of soft butter, 90 g of sugar, 20 g of eggs, 300 g of flour, 4 g of salt, 5 g of powdered cinnamon
Ingredients for chocolate ganache: 300 g of cream, 70 g of glucose, 195 g of milk cover, 175 g of dark coating
Ingredients for salted caramel: 100 g of granulated sugar, 50 g of butter, 150 g of fresh cream, 2 g of salt
For coverage: 300 g of milk chocolate

Method: Whip the soft butter with the sugar in the planetary mixer. Add the eggs, salt and cinnamon. To finish, finish with the sifted flour, stirring gently the dough so as not to dismantle it too much. It can be used immediately or after having it rested in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Cut the dough into a rectangle 5 cm long by 2.5 cm, in a hot oven at 170 °.
For the ganache: Heat the cream with glucose; pour it over the chocolate pieces and let it melt for a couple of minutes. Blend with an immersion mixer for a couple of minutes. Allow to crystallize and give the shape of a cylinder.
Salted caramel: Caramelise the sugar until the color is golden. Add the soft butter, mix well and add the cream at a temperature of 32 degrees. Boil and add salt and vanilla. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
Now that we have finished all the preparations, place the salted caramel on the pastry rectangle and add the ganache cylinder. We cover everything with tempered milk chocolate and let it crystallize.

Gourmet skiing: in the Stubai fresh pasta on the glacier and slopes open until May – Italian Cuisine

And the more extensive skiable glacier of Austria, that of the Stubai, in a valley to which you arrive direct on the highway from the Brenner. It offers state-of-the-art facilities and satisfies those who, between skiing and the other, do not want to give up good food, and maybe a bit of luxury high altitude gastronomy.

In the ski resort of Eisgrat, at 2900 m. the Schaufelspitz restaurant, awarded with two hats and rated 15 points by the Gault-Millau gourmet guide. The Chef Davis Kostner offers a kitchen frank, made of local products, milk from the valley. "No whims, no jokes. Like the mountain: reduced to the essential, what matters ": so he describes it himself. The traditional cuisine of the valley is very simple. Up here, however, Italian influence is not lacking.

Starting from pasta. Which is produced at 3000 m., a unique case! The boiling point of the water here is 89 ° C, 11 less than on the sea level (where there are 100 ° round rounds), which requires a skilful adjustment of the recipes … The pasta factory is run by Saskia Jakob, 28 years old and a past from former professional soccer player. The mastery of the chef and pasta maker, or rather of Chef Patie, shine like snow hit by the sun: spaghetti, macaroni and many other formats of pasta are served for the pleasure of skiers and escorts in different places on the glacier. Surely in the Eisgrat Market Restaurant – in the same building – and at Zur Goldenen Gams restaurant (in the intermediate station, at 2,620 m.), which offers many Tyrolean typicalities like the Wiener Schnitzel (the schnitzel!) accompanied by the sauce or better cranberry jam or le Kaiserschsmarren, large omelette made in strips, sweetened and accompanied by the same jam, which here in addition to the flour includes the semolina among the ingredients.

Meanwhile, delicious Tyrolean breads and cakes rise with increased lust, since here the air pressure is not the same as at the bottom of the valley … The Schaufelspitz is not lacking high altitude gourmet initiatives, like the Dine & Wine multi-dinner dinners, Dine & Beer (23 February) or lo Champagne brunch (16 February).

Certainly gourmet is the menu of the SPA Hotel Jagdhof, single 5 stars of the valley, which refreshes its guests from the cold and from the ski hardships with a first class wellness center and a food at the height: only the buffet d'entrée is a complete luxury meal, among smoked pork shins on the spit and the dishes of game which comes from hunting reserve of the house. in amazing bar counter, light pine pine wood and pom-colored upholstered leather, you can sip rare wines and all sorts of fruit distillate, pride of Tyrol. From the apricot pear to the Traminer grape, or from cirmolo, which is nothing but the pine cone of the Pino Cembro, the veined and scented mountain, with which you create sculptures and furniture and roofs in Tyrol. Just what welcomes and envelops the customers of the Jagdhof. Producing distillates is a tradition that is carried out here with love. From those made at home to those of extra luxury, such as those of the Rochelt Brenner craft distillery, enclosed in green bottles of heavy crystal, a drop of gourmet luxury that sometimes you can grant …

With the same skipass glacier (at prices on average less expensive than in the Bel Paese) you can ski in the area of Schlick 2000: if the slopes are open until the end of May, here the season arrives 'only' after Easter because it is lower (that sometimes, seen the cold, it's not bad!) and in the breathtaking panorama of what are defined as'Northern Dolomites'. Among other things, it works a great club for children, where to leave in good hands the little ones while the older ones enjoy the snow with teachers and parents. On the food front, there are no fears: you can enjoy the view from the Panoramarestaurant Kreuzjoch and in the meantime enjoy a nice typical dish, starting from the 'Tris of canederli ': those of cheese, melted and crunchy (exquisite also in stock); green ones with spinach and meat classics (dumplings, the real "must" of Tyrolean cuisine, are easy to prepare at home). In Tyrol there are many culinary traditions that are repeated from valley to valley, with common authenticity and different craftsmanship. Unique of the Stubai are the 'Strietzel', salty krafen in the shape of fingers (sometimes crossed!) stuffed with gray cheese and served with sauce of apples or the inevitable cranberries.

You can taste them in the traditional huts or in the local restaurants, or maybe in the open air during the many events and even night shows – unmissable the toboggan at night! A nice steaming wine, snow, stars and … down the fabulous Stubai slopes!

Carola Traverso Saibante
February 2019

Chef for dogs, the gourmet trend for man's best friend – Italian Cuisine

What our pets eat must be "healthy" like what we eat. Dog chefs are born. Here are their stories, their tips and a recipe for making homemade cookies for our four-legged friend

The chef for dogs it's the last one gourmet trend, dedicated to man's best friend, who is slowly gaining ground all over the world. This is no longer a whimsical star in Paris Hilton or found advertising of the puppy influencer: We are talking about a real professional service (even affordable) to keep the beloved four-legged in health and in shape with special attention.

After the beer for dogs, the dog street food and the Candoro or the Canettone for Christmas, just take a ride on the web to find different offers of quality pet friendly and with just a few clicks you can receive straight home in the bowl of your dog so inviting a delicacy that would want to share … and sometimes it is also possible! We took a quick tour of the world to give you three examples of how the trend is not isolated or elitist. From the United States to Belgium, to Italy, discover with us 3 protagonists Pet Chef + one recipe all-Italian for your four-legged friend.

United States – The Dog Chef

Back in 2005, Kevyn Matthews he began the profession of chef specializing in pets. Through the creation of personalized food plans, he realizes he can also take care of high quality fresh food: «If it's not good for me to eat, then it's not even for my dog, is the philosophy of The Dog Chef. Between passion and competence, he then opened his own Dog Chef Café Baltimore which counts thousands of fans between bipeds and quadrupeds. For nearly fifteen years, chef Matthews has been providing balanced and healthy meals that can be purchased online. For example, there is a monthly subscription Fresh Meal Plan $ 35 that is built on the responses of the owner of the animal based on its characteristics and habits. Not missing the Froyo, frozen yogurt in four flavors (Bacon Molasses, Peanut Butter & Banana, Mixed Berry & Ice Cream Sundae) which is a delicious reward for the dog, also a source of calcium, potassium and magnesium, in addition to probiotics that help improve the health of the immune and digestive system. The highlight is the Anxiety Squares, four brownies for $ 40 that promise to reduce anxiety or arthritis pain thanks to100% organic cannabis oil. In collaboration with veterinary professionals, chef Matthews self-proclaims the original chef dog.

Balanced and delicious snack from The Dog Chef Café, Baltimore.

Belgium – Dog Chef

Name similar to the American chef Matthews, here it is a catering service founded in Brussels by Alex Cardon and two members: Dog Chef. Having noted the growing habit of feeding more pets with home-prepared food rather than packaged, Alex & co. choose to offer a healthy alternative by cooking only high quality products, so much so that they could be eaten by humans too! They started with a limited offer of two dishes, but high standards: chicken with rice and vegetables, or beef with pasta and vegetables. "There's not much choice, but it's better than what dogs eat every day!", Cardon jokes about The Bulletin. The recipes are then changed thanks to the continuous collaboration with the University of Liège. So now we find the cod / salmon combo with quinoa, beef with lentils, chicken with rice and vegetables; all carefully described in detail. Much attention is given to the portions, which are calibrated according to age, weight and physical conformation of the dog.

A satisfied customer of the Dog Chef service, Belgium.

Italy – Cheffa Dog

Cheffa Dog, a century Sonia Orlandi, of Rome, transforms his passion for cooking and love for animals into a real profession. Pushed by friends, she opens her blog to collect her recipes for 100% natural dogs, which she compiles following the guidelines of veterinary nutritionists. "Becoming a pet chef was not a choice made at a table, it was more a becoming, the logical consequence of what I was doing," says Sonia. «The first invitations to trade shows have begun with the request for show cooking … To show people that there is nothing complicated and reveal my tricks learned in years and years of cooking and testing has become a mission. The result is an illustrated recipe book published just over a year ago in collaboration with MondoFido: Dog recipes: Homemade cooking in bowl. From the Dog-Sushi up to Bau Pasticcini, Cheffa Dog makes it easy to make tasty and nutritionally balanced bowls for your dog. Among advice on nutrition and advice from the vet, Cheffa Dog becomes the reference point for those looking for practical and healthy solutions to pamper your four-legged friends. Here is a recipe that is easy to make.

Dog biscuits with apple and carrot of Cheffa Dog

Ingredients

200 g of wholemeal flour
100 g of 00 flour
1 small carrot
1 big apple or 2 small
2 teaspoons of honey
1 egg
a generous sprinkling of powdered cinnamon
grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil

Preparation

Before starting to knead, turn the oven on at 180 ° so as to find it already at the temperature when baking.
Cut the apple into small pieces and cook in a saucepan with a cup of water until it is so soft that you can crush it well with a fork.
Add the cinnamon and mix well.
Finely grate the well washed raw carrot and set aside.
On the work surface, put the two flours together, form a fountain and carefully put all the ingredients in the center.
Start to knead starting from the center, slowly mixing everything together.
Form a soft dough like a short pastry, if too soft add another whole wheat flour, while if too hard, add a tablespoon of water.
Spread the dough half a centimeter thick and cut with a cookie cutter form.
Put the prepared biscuits in a baking sheet covered with baking paper and bake for about 15-20 minutes at 180 ° in the previously heated static oven.
When the biscuits appear browned, switch off and let them cool in the oven with the door open.
They are kept for about 15-20 days in a hermetically sealed jar.