Recipe Taster

Sharing my life call and an Italian tarte

2013-04-16T00:53:00.001+02:00

Some time ago my dear friend Sumaya of Pukka Paki asked me to write an introductory piece for her other food-platform Food Niche Collective. What came out is quite an explanatory piece about my newly-found life call that I would like to share with you all. Let's all jump to the Food Niche Collective blog then. In the meantime, let me share with you a delicious recipe that I perfected for my "

A gingery beef stir-fry and the lovely Sciacca

2013-01-07T19:36:00.002+01:00

This time a new month means also a new year. I am still on holiday mode and probably not ready yet to commit the year past to paper. Quite frequently my thoughts need a noticeable amount of time to crystallize into a concrete expression of words and metaphoric images. It will come the time when my ode to 2012 will be ready for publishing but for the moment it is Secret Recipe Club time (not

Comforting Italian Trifle

2012-11-27T22:32:00.002+01:00

Comfort. What is comfort to our eyes? The feeling of home? A completely relaxed body? Or conversely a hyperactive session of our favorite sport? A visit to a museum can be comforting to many, but just because we stand still for hours in front of a magnificent piece of art it doesn't mean that our mind isn't going 100 miles an hour. Generally we tend to associate the word comfort with

My Magic Wintery Gazpacho Chez Fahad's

2012-11-12T02:50:00.002+01:00

It has been quite some time since I had guest posted for a friend and this time I am very happy to be hosted at Fahad's land of delicious treats SimplyFahad-istic. When he approached me asking to guest post, he mentioned that it would be for his "Liquid Friday" series. As the title says, this series concentrates on drinks and this is a first for me. My original idea was that of using the

Sicilian Pasta e Broccoli in Support for Sandy

2012-11-08T19:13:00.000+01:00

Last week the New York area got hit by a terrible "hurricane" that crippled the city and the surrounding states. From this side of the Ocean, we couldn't help but feel the angst of the people getting ready for what was to come. Those who didn't have to evacuate were getting ready to live without electricity for a few days. Being from Sicily, I am used to loosing electricity power almost at

Autumn thoughtfulness and CreativeLIVE

2012-11-05T18:00:00.000+01:00

Autumn is the season of change. From the vibrant electricity of Summer days we slowly transition toward a sleepy November. The skies often mirror our moods and our woolly cloaks. Mornings are dark the blankets become our best friends. The sun isn't disappeared from our lives, it shyly emerges seldom from its blankets in the dark blue sky bringing a warming smile into our daily routines.

Zahtar buttermilk biscuit and my first days in London

2012-10-08T18:00:00.000+02:00

It takes some time to recover from bad experiences and it takes even longer to get back to or daily life after a short parenthesis of happiness. Almost one week has passed since my visit to London. As I am sure I have already mentioned in previous posts (here and here) London for me is synonymous of friendships. Nothing better of a vibrant metropolis filled with friendly faces and great food

Sicilian egg gratin and my trip to Versailles

2012-08-14T23:42:00.000+02:00

It was a sunny day that started with a little drizzle my last day in Paris. I was stationed in a little town close to the ville lumieres at arm lengths from Versailles. In the past I have told myself many times to just take the train and visit the old kings but I was never strong enough to disentangle myself from the parisian hug. This time I didn't have any excuse; I set my alarm clock,

Buckweat-Quinoa veggie muffins with lime-vanilla cream-cheese frosting

2012-08-06T18:00:00.000+02:00

August is here and so is the middle of summer, not only that actually; August usually brings my whole family to Bonn for a little summer vacation. My family has been visiting me regularly since I moved to Germany; a subtle way to keep an eye on my doing as well as experimencing new places, people and realities. The days of their visit are though punctuated by visits to some of our canonical

Lotta-Garlic chicken and a Conference

2012-07-09T18:31:00.001+02:00

July is here. With its finnicky mood this summer feels more like an early autumn. Sunny and melting days are followed by gloomy gray mornings. Every now and then though, there are days with a perfect balmy temperature; the sun shines through the patches of puffy clouds swimming in an ultramarine sky and the sparrows are chirping. Autumn can be the best season of the year when it wants. This

Mom Francesca's eggplant and onion casserole

2012-07-02T23:53:00.001+02:00

Traveling always improves our lives; a rich baggage of memories and images can change us more than we can actually realize. Oral stories sung by bards and grandparents have left the place to printed works and the ominous prescriptions of altarpieces and religious friezes. Printed and visual experiences continously pull and push us around like little creatures on our shoulders whispering in

Chocolate rum quinoa pudding and a visit to Nantes

2012-06-20T03:15:00.000+02:00

A trip to France always needs some time to get assimilated, especially when you come back with more than 1000 shots to edit. I often rethink at the great weekend I spent in Nantes few weeks ago under a summery sun and in great company. Aside from exploring the objective beauty of a city, I find that getting in touch with its soul is a much more rewarding feat. People watching is great fun

Salmon-Eggplant-Cardamom cakes and a French prize

2012-06-04T18:00:00.001+02:00

After a long week of holidays of sort, nothing better than a blog post to put the schedule back on tracks. Almost 10 days ago I started my trip to France to present (and defend) my creations (#1 and #2) at the 2012 Science et Cuisine competition. This being my main goal, I headed directly to Nantes where the competition final was held. The trip was uneventful, but not much so were the few days

Swiss-chard and almonds gnudi and a book review

2012-05-21T14:26:00.001+02:00

At the beginning of the past week I was surprised to receive a phone-call from a delivery agency who communicated me that they had a parcel from England to deliver. The hours went by and the sun rose again, around 10am the delivery man rang the bell and I had my mysterious pouch in my hands. It was Giuliano Hazan's new cookbook "Hazan Family Favorites". I immediately brought it with me in my

Mussels jelly-dome à la nage Asiatique

2012-05-10T23:28:00.000+02:00

Here we go with the second installment of the seaweed saga. In the past episode , I introduced you to the seaweed tasting experience I did for a recipe competition I entered; the theme of the competition was indeed seaweeds. They provided us with quite a few samples, mostly dried and just a couple fresh. I do prefer when seaweeds come in their dry form, since the whitish coating on them is

Goat cheese verrines with spiced apple-jelly

2012-05-07T18:00:00.000+02:00

The beginning of each month is highlighted by the Secret Recipe Club so there is always something good to look for around the corner. For the month of May I was assigned Megan's blog "Megan's Cookin". From her blog it is evident that she loves to cook and eat a bit of everything, so much so that she end up being a polygamous! But can you blame her to love both citrus and chocolate? Nah we can't

Dulse-seaweed panna cotta with caramel sauce marine

2012-05-04T00:16:00.001+02:00

Have you ever taste tested a bunch of seaweeds? Probably when you were a kid at the sea shore hands deep in sand and slimy grassy things you attempted to eat them, but this wasn't one of those situations. If you are regular to this blog you might remember me entering the "Science, Art et Cuisine" competition the past years. With this year the competition changed organisational team, being now

Nutty Swedish Meatballs

2012-04-09T18:00:00.000+02:00

This month you are lucky! Two post in just a few days, must be a record for me, I hope that isn't too much inspiration for your belly to bare. I am very happy to announce that my Pomegranate shot won February DMBLGiT challenge in the Originality category; my first win in this challenge! Many thanks to the judges for choosing my entry. If you want to enter the March edition of the

Citrussy crepes soufflées

2012-04-07T02:32:00.002+02:00

March has been a pretty busy month; my cooking classes and a couple of food related competitions made my daily schedule as hectic as I have rarely experienced before. But it has been a great and exceptional month, the best I had in the last couple years. Healing from my Candida overgrowth has caused my diet to be extremely restrictive nowadays but the positive effects are mighty. I am my old

Pasta with Zucchini and my second Cooking Class

2012-03-17T01:53:00.001+01:00

It never happens but when it does it is in the worst moment possible. How often have we said these words with a cursing tone toward the stars (or the municipal house). I have been living in Germany for roughly 7 years now and can still count on the tip of my fingers the times that transports have gone on strike, actually I think they are quite under 5 in total and yesterday was one of these.

Cooking classes and my Tomato sauce

2012-03-05T18:00:00.000+01:00

March is starting to look like a pretty busy month. Long time has passed since I had so many deadlines and possibilities to earn some money. Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know that I have started giving cooking classes in my town, Bonn. It took some time for the city (represented by the Volkshochschule) to realize the need of offering public classes in English but once they started

Cuccia and devotional eating

2012-02-24T02:45:00.001+01:00

In many of our cities, the past weekend has been dedicated to the celebration of Carnival; it sure has been around here in Bonn. With Bavaria, North-Rhine Westphalia is the German region where "Karneval" is mostly felt and longed for since the 11th of November when the preparations for the celebrations start (at 11:11am to be precise). Till last year this fixation with the number 11 sounded

Kaffir-lime risotto with saffron mussels and roasted hazelnuts

2012-02-13T19:47:00.000+01:00

It slipped almost unnoticed but our little baby just turned 3. It doesn't look like right? Still so small and full of promises, rough around the edges but with a softy heart. It came to life amongst the street of Paris between a narghile pipe and a chai, between wild chemistry talks and calm heart-pouring sessions between friends. In 3 years it found many friends and supporters to make its

Peppered pork-fillet with tangy peanut-butter-pomegranate sauce

2012-02-06T18:00:00.000+01:00

On January the Secret Recipe Club took a hiatus to allow for quieter holidays for most of us but not for our hosts. They have been working behind the scenes to update the whole machine. The head-master of the whole process is Amanda of Amanda's Cookin'. Destiny wants that I was the one chosen to cook out of her blog this month. It did take a little bit for me to find what to propose you out

Top 24 recipes of 2011

2011-12-31T19:07:00.000+01:00

And this year is gone and it is almost my blogversary too! Many (but not too many) are the recipes I have proposed you across the past 12 months and it was very hard to choose some that have stuck in my flavors library. After skimming my picture catalog I have reduced them to a Top 24. With one new recipe every two weeks may this list help you bringing a little more happiness into your 2012.