The best scone I’ve ever baked

Apricot scone.jpg

Seriously!Those are the simplest, tastier and better looking scones I’ve ever baked, and you all know my addiction to this wonderful English treats!
Sunday morning I woke up early and already annoyed and so what could I do better if not baking? And baking scones, what there is better in life then that??? Apart the obvious, ok… ;-)

This recipe, with the due changes and personalizations, is from this month BBC Good Food.

125 g of wholewheat flour
100 g of flour
10 g f chemical yeast for cakes
1 and 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar
40 g of softened butter
150 ml of milk
100 g of minced dried apricot
1 egg yolk, beaten, to glaze

Preheat the oven at 180°C.
In a food processor, mix all the ingredients, in the given order, except the apricot and the egg yolk.
You’ll obtain a wet mix, bot do not worry. Add the apricots by hand, then, on a floured surface, lay down the dough 2 centimetres thick. This is the whole trick: the dough must be thick! I made some scones with a thinner dough and they came out quite ugly!

Cut it out with a glass or a cookie cutter.
Brush them with the beaten egg yolk, then cook them for 10 minutes in the hot oven.

Eat them warm, but they are still good even cold!

Enjoy them with some clotted cream and some jam!

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It’s London baby!!!

English cheese Galore!!!

Well, I’m in London, again! Sorry if I haven’t said anything, but it’s just a very quick visit…
It was a sunny and hot day and I had the wonderful opportunity (and for this I will never stop to thank Walid from TrustedPlaces!!!) to meet some gorgeous people and have a good look around London Borough Market!
I met some prominent English food bloggers I read, like the lovely Julia, the astonishing young and talented Aidan and, even if briefly, the adorable Krista.
I add the pleasure to meet some English food journalists too, as Susan Smillie from The Observer and mind behind the food blog of The Guardian; Andy Hayler with whom I chatted a lot about restaurants and food; and, even if briefly, Tonia George food editor of Waitrose Food Illustrated (and I exposed myself telling her that the cover of one of their old numbers is hanging from the wall of my study: Nigella Lawson’s packing the perfect picnic is so inspiring for everyday inspiration!!!).
Our host, chef and foodie Celia Brooks Brown, was just wonderful: I’ve liked her form the first moment I’ve spotted her! she was so smiley ad charming that I couldn’t stop listening to her food chatting with us and the stands holders!

My impressions on the market itself can be found here.
Here I just want to stress on one point: I was honestly and really pleased for the way England is transforming its relationship with food! they are really expanding their views on food, and not only towards organic food (that here in England is less expensive than in Italy), but towards food in general!!! I had so many bad memories about English supermarkets and food, but right now, just after two visits, they are all gone!
And even the bad memories about constant rain are almost gone: I’ve always had sun!!!

For the complete photo set of this visit, you can click trough here! Enjoy!

Do you think food bloggers use Internet at its highest potentials?

Lately I’m hanging out with a lot of “internet people” (aka people working in Internet companies, involved both in contents and logistics, software, hardware, stuff like that), and I’ve realized something…
They all have a blog, since ages, a flickr account, a tumblr blog, they use twitter, they know all about the latest google innovations and they are for sure part of more than one community…
And they are part of much more that for sure I do not even know it exists…

But we, one of the biggest and more bonding community on line, are we using the so called web 2.0 at its highest potentials?

Donna Hay’s Verrines

Donna Hay Verrines.jpg

Have I said somewhere else how much I love the Donna Hay style?
It’s just wonderful, or at least it is exactly what I would like to achieve: special made simple. Or, as a friend would say, less is more…
And Donna, a great stylist, made a wonderful effort to make all this possible even for us. She accomplished many perfect combination, without all the fuss of molecular gastronomy or the overrated fake elegance of a three star chef… (Uh, that was tough… Sorry, I’m in need of basic stuff lately!)
Like this combination of three basic ingredients: couscous, feta and beetroot. Together they make your mouth (and your soul) very happy and satisfied, a feeling that you would never imagine from something so simple… The best way to taste it is with the couscous still warm and dressed just with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice. Mint was for decoration, but wasn’t bad at all!

Live from London!!!

It’s sunny! It’s hot!
So far, I drunk an Orangina (I know, it’s not English, but everywhere I find Orangina, I drink it!!!) and ate a tuna and avocado wrap!
I found a wireless connection not encripted…
Tonight I go to google’s offices for a dinner party…

What would I want more then this????????

Monthly mingle 10: Happy birthday Meeta!

Non bake cheesecake.jpg

Sorry Meeta, I’m two days late, but Happy birthday!!!
To my excuse, I can assure I made this cake on the 2nd of June!
And I don’t know if you would like it, but it was a very quick and very simple non baked cheesecake that everybody enjoyed!
And here’s the recipe!

For the base
250 gr of digestive biscuits (I used petits beurre, but it turned out very crumbly, so not the best choice…)
75 g of butter

For the filling
400 g of marmalade (I’ve used the orange one I’ve made in January)
250 g of ricotta
175 g of low fat yoghurt
6 g of gelatine (3 sheets)
Mixed berries, as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and redcurrants

Crumble the digestive, mix them with melted butter. Cover a cake mould with the mix. Refrigerate.
Soak the gelatine in cold water.
Heat the marmalade in a little pan and when is boiling add, far from the fire, the gelatine.
In a mixer, process ricotta and yoghurt, add the marmalade, then mix, in bowl, with the fruits.
Fill the cake and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

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London calling to the underworld come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls…

UPDATE!
I wanted to check out a dim sum restaurant.
What do you think if we meet the 6th of June at Chuen Cheng Ku, 17 Wardour Street (Piccadilly), from 12.30 pm, for lunch? I will be there, red hair, black glasses…

I don’t know if I have any English readers or followers (and even less if they are Clash‘s fans! ;-D), but the 5th and 6th of June I will be in London, so if anyone would like to meet for a cup of coffee or a lunch, I will be more then happy!

Let me know in the comment or via mail…

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