Way before modern Italy, the Romans were making a type of sauce called ‘moretum’ that was made using a mortar from which the name is derived. Moretum was usually made with herbs, oil, salt, vinegar, occasionally and eaten spread on bread. Compare this to modern day pesto which is usually made from basil, pine nuts, …
Recipe
Nov 01
Decadent French Toast – Brioche Eggy Bread
Last week I made some brioche, a type of French sweetish bread somewhere between a cake, pastry and bread, and I mentioned it was really good for making French toast. Well I cut a couple of slices and allowed them to go slightly stale and then made some of the most decadent French toast you …
Oct 30
Ricotta Fritta – Fried Ricotta Antipasti
These ricotta fritta antipasti are a little like gnocchi, but a lot lighter and very ‘more-ish’. Ricotta is a strange cheese. It literally means ‘re-cooked’, as in that after normal cheese has been made by separating the curds from the whey, the whey is then heated to create the ricotta. Also ricotta doesn’t really melt, …
Oct 28
Bread from potatoes? – A new sourdough starter
I go through phases of making sourdough, and yes I admit it here, that sometimes, I have allowed my sourdough pet to die. I am a bad sourdough parent. Keeping a sourdough pet isn’t difficult and it is far easier than looking after a dog or a cat, since you only have to feed it …
Oct 27
Orzotto!
I love risotto but sometimes I do not have the time, patience, or maybe the inclination to commit to the neediness required to make a good risotto. A nice swap is a dish I call Orzotto. It is Orzo pasta cooked in the manner of a risotto. The joy is that it requires very little …