Tag: Array
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The Buzz About The Mouans-Sartoux Honey Festival
All about the medieval village of Mouans-Sartoux This week is not about a recipe, but about a local festival the kids and I visited recently in a neighbouring village, which celebrates bees and the honey they busily produce. I have to say that I have never seen so many different types of honey,…
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Spaghetti All’Amatriciana
What not to put in Amatriciana sauce There was a huge kerfuffle in Italy recently when a famous chef made Spaghetti All’Amatriciana and put onions in it. The crowd went wild (in a bad way) and there was nearly a lynch mob sent out to get the chef. That’s how seriously the Italians…
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Strawberries And Cream: San Candido Style!
The Secrets Of The Dolomite Mountains Unveiled! Last year we went for a couple of weeks to the Dolomite mountains in the North East of Italy, near the Austrian border. I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly. I heard that the mountains were very beautiful, but that was about all I knew. I…
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Red Pepper Flan with Anchovy Sauce
Excuses and Anchovies I know it’s been quiet for a couple of weeks. Sorry about that. Thanks to two weeks of school holidays in which there were sick kids, one after the other, just to make sure we spent the whole first week at home, then a week of holidays in Italy, I…
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Spaghetti with Herbs, Cannellini Beans and Bacon
An irresistible spaghetti sauce When you don’t have fussy kids hanging around who only like pasta with sauces in which the main constituent is tomato (writing from bitter experience here), this sauce with dried beans, bacon and herbs makes a wonderful change. It suits long pasta, such as spaghetti or linguine perfectly. Even…
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Trappe d’Échourgnac
The history behind the making of Trappe d’Echourgnac cheese This cheese is very special as it is made in a monastery in the Dordogne region of France and nowhere else! The brown colour on the rind is there, as the cheese is washed with a walnut liqueur. You eat it with the rind…
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Comté cheese from France
Comté: one of the most common cheeses in France Comté is as ubiquitous in France as Cheddar is in the United Kingdom, or Monterey Jack is in the United States. In the supermarket it comes in block form and already grated; aged or young. Of course, as with all hard cheeses, there is a…
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Chocolate Caramel Cookies
Why it’s time to make your own cookies My kids have been eating way too many commercial cookies out of a packet recently, so I decided it was time to get baking. I often make ginger/cinnamon cookies with this recipe that I am going to share with you, but decided it was time…
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Ricotta al Forno cheese from Sicily
All about ricotta al forno from Sicily Most of you have probably heard of ricotta cheese, or even use it in cooking. In its fresh form it is white, soft and quite bland tasting. In Sicily, Italy, where it comes from, fresh ricotta is fluffy, light and has a wonderful taste. Ricotta al Forno…
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Castelmagno
Where does Castelmagno cheese come from? Castelmagno is a very prized cheese that comes from the Province of Cuneo. The Valle Grana where the small village of Castelmagno is situated winds its way up into the alps that form the border between Italy and the South-East of France (where I live). My 80 year…
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Spaghetti With Pesto, Potatoes and Green Beans
Making fresh pesto takes no time at all! Pasta with pesto is the fall-back meal in our household for when I can’t figure out what to make for a meal, or don’t have much motivation to cook. It’s easy (especially if you get it out of a jar!), and nobody complains about it…
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Root Vegetable and Kale Soup
The joys of scraping ice, cycling in the snow, and kale It’s getting a teensy bit colder….not as cold as it should be at this time of the year, but cold enough to start making soup every now and then. I feel cheated: I’ve only had to scrape ice off my car window…
