Roman Cheese Pudding

Okay, I get it.  Nothing about the name "Roman Cheese Pudding" sounds even slightly appetizing.  I promise though, if you give it a chance you will be glad you did.  Think baked lemony cannoli filling and you'd be on the right track.  It is a bit strange to think about and the fact that I had to sieve the ricotta sent me into fits, but this is good stuff.  I shared my finished product with colleagues at work and no one was disappointed.

I made a couple adjustments, one being the direct result of the other, and both being a product of my laziness.  The directions call for using a mold and when I think of mold I think of jello salads I used to eat as a child.  I'm pretty sure that type of mold is what Maria Luisa was getting at.  However, I only have a bundt pan that is about 3 times the size I actually needed.  I could have gone to the store and found myself a mold, but I was not really up for the hunt.  Instead, I used my bundt pan and doubled the recipe so that it wouldn't look dwarfed inside the thing.  Below is the regular recipe, not the doubled version I made.

Roman Cheese Pudding

Budino di Ricotta alla Romana

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ricotta cheese

1/2 c. sugar

2 egg yolks

3 whole eggs

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

grated peel of 1 small lemon

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F and grease mold.  Sprinkle mold lightly with bread crumbs.  Be careful with your bread crumb selection.  I only had Italian style bread crumbs in the pantry and didn't really think about it when I used them to prep the pan.  Italian style bread crumbs have parsley flakes.  Those parsley flakes will adhere to your pudding.  It doesn't change the flavor but it will make your guests look twice at the edges when they cut a slice.

Using a wire mesh strainer and the back of a spoon or spatula, sieve the ricotta into a bowl.

Still not sure what that really added to the overall recipe but that is what sieved ricotta will look like.

Now, add the sugar and mix well.  Blend in yolks and, one at a time, add the whole eggs.  Beat constantly throughout this part.  I used a stand mixer since I didn't think I would have enough hands to crack, add, and beat all at the same time.  Blend in the remaining ingredients.  Pour mixture into the prepared mold.

Place mold in a pan of water.  You will, essentially, be cooking this pudding in a bain marie - a fancy term for hot water bath.  This creates a more uniform level of heat around the mold and the steam will keep the pudding from drying out.

Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out dry.  With my doubled version I had to bake it for 1 hour 10 minutes.

There were some obvious removal issues.  For the most part it plopped out nicely, but there were some spots that stuck to the mold.  Now, this could very well be my fault.  Maria Luisa did not provide any instruction regarding removing the pudding from the mold.  Part of me said that if I let it cool in the pan too much it might end up sticking to the sides and never come out.  The other part of me said I needed to wait until it cooled at least a bit so that I was sure it was properly set.  

 

I ended up waiting a whole 5 minutes then turned the mold upside down.  Therefore, the case could be made that had I waited until it cooled, this would not have happened.  But, those could have simply been trouble spots on the mold where there wasn't enough butter and breadcrumbs so it would have stuck regardless of when I tried to remove it.  Maybe next time around I wait until it cools before removing it.  Maybe next time I use a pan that is more appropriately sized.  Honestly, who knows.

What I do know though, is that this pudding tastes pretty great.  It has a nice smooth texture with a light hint of lemon.  The extreme number of eggs makes the dessert rich and creamy.  It's worth trying for your next dinner party.

Holiday Sweet Treats

COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES!

I adore Christmas cookies.  Growing up, my mother had these magical tins that only appeared in December and when you opened them they contained sweet goodness.  The sheer number of the different kinds of cookies she would make was amazing and we all had our favorites.  Personally, I preferred the giuggiulena, spritz, and pecan cups.

Giuggiulena

The giuggiulena are a bit of a beast to make.  You boil sugar and honey together then add sesame seeds and blanched almonds.  The mixture needs to be worked while it's still warm, otherwise you'd break your arms trying to roll it out and then cut it into pieces.  Of course, working with it warm has its downside.  It's still sticky so the board, rolling pin, and knife all have to remain wet to prevent the giuggiulena from sticking to it.  When all is said and done though, you have these rock hard sweet toffee treats.  They are the kind that you have to bite into with your back teeth and no holiday cookie dish is complete without them (in my never humble opinion).

My brother's favorite is the almond paste...no argument here, they are pretty fantastic as well.  Over the years we've added a few new ones to our baking repertoire.  The latest addition, which has also found its way to my favorites list, is the Mounds cookies (the ones in the center of the dish pictured at the top).

The newspaper my mother clipped the recipe from called them Chocolate Dipped Peter Pan Mounds. I've seen other versions, usually named Peter Paul Mounds bars, floating around the internet.  I think the version my mother uses is way better, so I thought I would share.

Chocolate Dipped Peter Pan Mounds

Ingredients:

3/4 c. mashed potatoes (my mother makes the mashed potatoes the way she would make any regular mashed potatoes, with milk and butter.  My suggestion is to do the same.)

4 c. powdered sugar

4 c. coconut flakes

12 oz. chocolate chips

1/2 bar paraffin wax (please make sure it is food grade!)

Directions:

Make the mashed potatoes and set aside to cool.  Once they have cooled completely, mix with the powdered sugar and coconut.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Form into bite-sized balls.  My preference is to shape them like Mounds.  Chill for an hour.

In a double-boiler over medium heat, melt paraffin wax.  Add chocolate chips and stir.  Keep over warm to keep chocolate thin.

Remove the as yet to be dipped Mounds from the refrigerator.  Dip each one using a fork into the chocolate.  The newspaper directions also suggest using a toothpick, but I am not confident a standard toothpick can handle the weight of these bad boys.  Use the fork to stay on the safe side.

Place on wax or parchment paper and let set in cool room or put back into the refrigerator for an hour.

Store in a covered container in the refrigerator (if they even last that long). 

Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole

This casserole goes down in the win column and my friends who partook of it at Friendsgiving agreed.  I always get a little nervous though when I serve food to others.  It's an irrational nervousness, I do realize that.  I've been cooking long enough and have a good sense of things that go well together, but there is always that chance that something comes out wrong.  And, if you have read my post about cooking with my father, you already know that me, cooking with orange juice, is a bit of a mixed bag, and this recipe called for juice of an orange.  I'm already feeling the cold sweats of fear as I imagine all the ways that OJ in the oven could cause a sticky smelly disaster.  But, as we have all figured out by now, I survived to tell the tale and bested yet another one of Maria Luisa's recipes.

What I like most about this recipe is its simplicity...sweet potatoes, apples, and orange juice.  That is really all you need.  There is a sweetener and spice thrown into the recipe as well, but those are not essential.  The standout flavor comes from the three ingredients I just listed and it's wonderful.  Maria Luisa did suggest adding liquor, but I decided that was unnecessary.  She also put this recipe in the Dessert and Candy chapter of her cookbook, which I decided was stupid.  Therefore, ignoring the alcohol addition was easy.  I might have considered it IF, IF, she had added it before baking.  She suggested sprinkling on Jamaica rum or kirsch before serving.  A) That's gross and adds nothing.  B) I was taking this to a pot luck where children would be dining with us, so no. C) Kirsch?! I'm not really sure why she wants us growing hair in unnecessary places.  Feel like getting crazy and throwing in an ounce of rum with the orange juice and then baking?  Go for it.  That would probably taste good...but after? No.

Setting aside Maria Luisa's general level of ridiculousness, this is a great recipe.  It's also a good beginner level recipe.  The ability to slice and peel is as skilled as you need to be.  Though, as I am writing this I am remembering a day when a dear dear friend of mine proved that peeling a potato does indeed require skill.  I stood, in abject horror, watching her massacre a normally hearty russet potato.  Before she could demoralize Mr. Russet any further, I yanked him from her grasp and told her that if she wanted to help, she could pour the wine.  Things worked much better in the kitchen after that.  As long as you are not her, you can make this recipe easy peasy.

Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Dolce di Patate e Mele

Ingredients:

2 lbs. sweet potatoes

3 apples - peeled, cored, and sliced fairly thin

Sugar and nutmeg - enough to sprinkle on as directed

Juice of 1 1/2 oranges

2 Tbsp butter - melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F.  Boil the sweet potatoes in water until tender, about 20 minutes.  When they are done, drain, let them cool for a bit, and then peel.  Peeling sweet potatoes is super easy and should not even require a peeler.  The skins will come off right in your hands.

Cut the sweet potatoes into slices, approximately 1/2 inch thick.  You will create the casserole in layers, in a buttered baking dish, starting with the sweet potatoes,

then adding the apples,

and then sprinkling on some sugar and nutmeg.

In total, I probably used about 1/4 cup of sugar and a single teaspoon of nutmeg.  Keep repeating until you have used all of the sweet potatoes and apples.  I ended up with three layers of each.  Finish with a sprinkling of sugar and nutmeg.

Then, pour the juice and melted butter over the top.

Place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

Yea, I had this vision of a dark brown and bubbly something but that's not what you get here.  The time in the oven is really just meant to soften the apple slices.  It tastes phenomenal and smells even better as it cooks, that I promise you.  If autumn could be captured in a pan, it would be this.

Cod Mistral

First, let's discuss the title Cod Mistral.  I have no idea what mistral is so I looked it up with the handy dandy Google Tranlate.  It detected mistral to be English.  Since both the English and the Italian translation of this dish contain the word mistral - unhelpful.  The definition I was given for the English version of mistral was "a strong, cold northwesterly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France into the Mediterranean, mainly in winter."  Soooooo, I made Cod Northwesterly Wind?  This are one of those moments where I just throw up my hands and give up.  Maria Lusia, why do you insist on making me nuts?!

Stupid nonsensical translations aside, this was a tasty dish, except for one thing.  There is always a but isn't there.  Maria Luisa made me double cook my cod again.  I do not enjoy double cooking cod because I run the risk of the rubbery texture.  And two of my fillets, the thicker ones, were rubbery...no buono Maria Luisa, no buono.   Now, for anyone saying "you could have just ignored the instructions to both sauté and bake," yes, I could have.  However, I feel a bit more justified in my ranting if I follow her instructions.  Had I intended to serve Cod Northwesterly Wind to anyone other than myself, I most certainly would have chosen to only bake the fish.

I should also admit a faux pas of my own...I used a French wine.  I know, total sacrilege but, it said dry right on the label, I had to pick it - Monsieur Touton Sauvignon.

Final rant...what the heck is a moderate oven!  Maria Luisa, why do you give me ridiculous directions?!  I'm not kidding.  The last sentence for the directions of this recipe are, and I quote "Bake in a moderate oven for 15 to 25 minutes" (pg 106).  ARGH

Cod Mistral

Merluzzo alla Mistral

Ingredients:

8 cod fillets - dipped in flour

1 c. olive oil

1 lb. tomatoes - peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp parsley - chopped

1 lb. mushrooms - sliced

6 Tbsp bread crumbs

4 Tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Lightly sauté cod in oil until both sides are golden.  In a 13 x 9 baking dish, sprinkle half of the bread crumbs then place the cod on top.  In the saute pan, add tomatoes to remaining oil along with the garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.  

Simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove the garlic and add wine and mushrooms.  Simmer until half of the wine has evaporated, approximately 10 minutes.  Pour the sauce over the cod.  Sprinkle the rest of the bread crumbs on top and bake for 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 350F.

Doesn't look like much does it?  Don't worry, it tastes way better than it looks.  The mushrooms held up really well even after being both sauteed and baked.  They were nice and firm...I greatly dislike mushy mushrooms.


 

And here it is, my first entirely The Italian Cookbook Challenge meal - a protein, carb, and veggie all on the same plate.  And I'm still alive...darn you Maria Luisa, thwarting my best efforts to give poor marks on your ridiculous cookbook.  There is always next week!  Buon appetito!