bunét – it is a typical italian dessert from a region called piemonte, a northern part of italy bordering france. it is almond flavoured chocolate pudding, using italian biscuits called “amaretti.”

this delicious dolce italiano was first introduced to me by my friend who lives in a small village close to a town called asti in piemonte. she is japanese and married to a local wine producer. i got to know her through the same graduate school in milan we both attended back in 2004. i remember very well the first time i visited their place during our school year – they live in this huge house facing their vast vineyard, continued on and on to the hills as long as our sight could see. not to mention it was one of the most beautiful sceneries that i had ever seen, and at the same time, i remember having a hint of envy in my little heart, feeling a bit lonely that i did not have anyone to share the moment together.

anyway back to bunét – married to an italian, my friend brushed up her cooking skill quite significantly, learning from her mother-in-law and her neighbours, trying very hard to please her newly-wed husband. everyday she cooks 3 course meals for lunch & dinner, following the strict culinary tradition of italian living. when i visited her as well, she prepared 3 course lunch for me, started with pasta bolognese as primo piatto, grilled pork slices with mozzarella cheese as secondo, and finished by the dolce in question, bunét.

as mentioned earlier, it is a chocolate pudding made with amaretti biscuits. the taste of almond gave it another layer of flavour to the ordinary taste of chocolate pudding, which stimulated my taste bud and left a positive, somehow nostalgic feeling in my stomach. when i ate bunét at my friend’s place, i liked it so much that i asked for its recipe, but she told me that it was so easy that she would be embarrassed to give it to me – dah – so i heartily looked for the perfect recipe on the Internet, and came across a few. here is the recipe that i followed, with a little twist that i incorporated.

bunét

ingredients:

for caramel:

120g sugar
4 1/2 table spoons of water (cold)
4 table spoons of water (boiled)

for pudding:

1/2 liter of whole milk
a little bit of vanilla extract
2 table spoons of espresso
2 table spoons of amaletto liqueur (or rhum)
4 eggs
90g sugar
40g cocoa powder (unsweetened)
100g amaretti biscuits (crushed pieces)

directions:

1. make caramel – pour the sugar & the cold water into the pan, and boil it on the medium heat
2. when the colour of the caramel mix turns golden, put the boiled water in (be very careful when you do this, as the caramel splashes due to the high heat)
3. pour into a cake pan (a small oven dish will do), glaze the caramel to all the surfaces of the pan

4. preheat the oven to 160 degree C

5. for pudding – in a large bowl, mix in the eggs, sugar, cocoa and amaletti biscuits
6. in a medium sized pan, pour the milk and the vanilla bean stick, bring it to boil
7. turn off the heat, add the espresso and amaretto, and let it cool down
8. once the milk is cooled down a bit, gently and slowly pout it into the cake pan
9. bake it in the water bath (that’s what it said in italian) for about 45 minutes
10. once it is baked, let it cool down in the water bath (that is also what is said in italian) before putting it in the fridge
11. let it sit in the fridge for at least 12 hours before serving

* after 12 hours or so, you can take the pudding out from the cake pan and place it on a large plate

this may have been too much for just 2 people 🙂

having a dutch husband, coming up with potato dishes becomes always a challenge. he was raised on potatoes and absolutely love them. the problem is, since japanese don’t eat as much potatoes as westerners, i can only think of a few dishes to cook.

once i cooked 肉じゃが (nikujaga), japanese stewed potatoes cooked with onions, carrots, pork slices, seasoned with soy sauce, sake and mirin. in the japanese kitchen, the dish is regarded as おかず (okazu), a side dish. i served it along a bowl of white rice, miso soup and some other side dishes like pickles or something, and my husband got a bit furious and said to me, “why are you serving rice with potatoes?!? i don’t need any rice, i can’t have two different staples at the same time!….” this was totally a brand new experience for me. in fact, i’d never had potato dishes without rice. here again, i stumble upon yet another cultural difference.

anyway, i wanted to explain how important potatoes can be for a dutchman. to my dismay, i always end up wasting potatoes (they tend to start sprouting on me), and this time, i didn’t want to make it happen – hence the gnocchi.

it was so easy actually and came out nicely. final result? a smiling husband.

gnocchi di patate (potato gnocchi) for 2

ingredients:
200+g of potatoes (2 medium sized potatoes)
50g of hard flour
a pinch of salt

directions:
1. first you boil the potatoes (approx. for 20 – 25 min).
2. once boiled, peel the skin when the potatoes are still hot
3. mush them!
4. put the flour and the salt.
5. knead the dough
6. make 2 tubes of 2 – 3cm diameter
7. cut into 2cm pieces and make small balls
8. push each ball with a fork slightly and leave its mark

that’s it! from 5 – 8, it’s easier to do it with extra flour.

boil it in boiled water, and when the gnocchi start to float over the surface, it’s ready. drain the water and mix it with the sauce.

mushroom sauce

ingredients:
3 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
3 eringi mushrooms, chopped
1/2 a clove of garlic, cut into 6 pieces
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of rosemary
a cup of water
1/4 cup of white wine
a half cube of chicken stock
salt & pepper to taste
some parmiggiano leggiano

directions:
1. melt butter in a frying pan and add olive oil
2. gently fry garlic, onion and rosemary until the onion is transparent
3. add the mushrooms, stir-fry a little bit and sprinkle salt & pepper. stir-fry a bit more
4. add the wine until it gets absorbed
5. add the water and chicken stock and cook for another 3 min. or so.
6. add salt & pepper to taste

when serving, sprinkle over the grated parmiggiano leggiano & extra pepper.

buonappetito!

la primavera e’ qui – spring is here!

for the dinner last night, i cooked a springy dish from italy called pasta piselli (green peas pasta), along with a side dish called ratatouiile (vegetable stew) from france. i made the pasta piselli for the first time, and was so surprised how easy it was to prepare with a great outcome. the composition of the 3 pastel colours of light green, pink & white reminds you how bright and uplifting the spring season can be.

pasta piselli (for 2 people):

170g short pasta (i used penne)
1/2 cup of green peas (or can use more if available)
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
4 slices of bacon, sliced in 1cm width
3 spoons of olive oil
2 spoons of white wine
100ml of fresh cream
salt & pepper to taste
2 table spoons of parmiggiano leggiano

in a frying pan, pour olive oil and lightly stir-fry the sliced onion. once the onion becomes transparent, add bacon and fry more until the bacon is nice and golden. add the white wine and bring the wine to boil. add the cream and bring it to boil again. add salt (just a little) and pepper to taste.

in the mean time, bring water to boil in the pasta pan and add a generous amount of salt. cook pasta for 10 minutes or so (vary depending on the type of pasta), and when the pasta is al dente, add the green peas, and cook for another 1 and a half minute.

add the pasta & peas to the sauce and mix them gently in low heat. once mixed, place the pasta on serving plates, and pour a table spoon of parmiggiano leggiano for each plate.

that’s it! buonappetito!

because of the ongoing concern on potentially contaminated food from the north area of japan due to the recent nuclear radiation, i have been quite picky about the place of origin on any food i buy. i understand that any contaminated food would not be allowed to be sold in the market, but i would feel better if the food comes from as far away as possible from the affected area. i feel slightly guilty towards the affected farms for my behaviour because it it not their fault at all. but on the contrary, i don’t want to take any risk if i don’t have to.

anyway, when i was in a grocery store a couple of days ago, there was a stack of beautiful green basils which were made in okinawa (the south most island of japan). i thought that surely these leaves were radiation free… so i grabbed a pack and put it in my basket.

i had pistachio nuts at home, so i decided to make pesto genovese sauce with them. it’s super easy and quick to prepare, and it comes out so tasty.

salsa di pesto genovese (for 2 people, with 200g pasta (used penne this time)

20 – 30 basil leaves
1 glove of garlic
75g pistachio nuts (shelled)
3 table spoons of olive oil (extra virgin)
salt & pepper to taste
2 – 3 table spoons of parmiggiano leggiano (grated)

1. in a food processor, put the basil leave, garlic and pistachio. start the processor with low speed, and once the nuts are crushed a bit, put the speed to high. keep it for 10 seconds or so.

2. once the ingredients are nicely mixed, put the olive oil and salt (a bit more than a pinch) & pepper to taste. start the processor for another 10 seconds. the ingredients get mixed and become paste-like texture. the sauce is ready.

3. cook any kind of pasta you like, and once cooked, mix it with the pesto sauce, and add the parmiggiano. mix a few times.

4. as preferred, serve the pasta with extra sprinkle of parmiggiano & olive oil.

buonappetito!

– bucatini con pomodorini e origano
– spaghetti al limone
– penne carbonara
– spaghetti alle vongole in bianco

these are some of the dishes i don’t cook. these dishes are the specialties of my husband’s, which he learned from this nice cookbook called “the river cafe cookbook” from a very famous italian restaurant in london.

it is like an unspoken rule between us that i wouldn’t dare touch them, as we both agree that it is the best this way so that we can avoid any feeling of rivalry between us (i.e. “who can make it better?” kind of remarks, which is very petty i know, but can be a critical cause of a big fallout). also, i realise that it is really nice from time to time that someone else stands in the kitchen and cooks something for you.

what i find very charming is that each time he cooks these dishes, he has to go back to the recipe even if he has made them numerous times in the past. every time he glares at the cookbook and follow the procedure very precisely or i should rather say very loyally (he worships the food there), concentrating very hard as if there is absolutely nothing else which can disturb him at the very moment.

i love to watch him cook. my favorite time of a day.

september is half way, and it is finally getting cooler in tokyo. one day we had typhoon coming towards the island of japan, and after buckets of rain, the temperature dropped quite significantly. for the past few days i can feel the gentle, autumnal chilliness which my body remembers from a year ago. despite the rain outside, the humidity seems to be much less, and the cool breeze so comforting.

for the first time in months, we opened a bottle of red wine – today’s dinner is tagliatelle bolognese, cooked with a generous portion of the wine coming from the same bottle.

this is my old recipe. i’ve been cooking the same sauce for the past 8 years or so. i discovered it in one of the italian cooking books i had, and changed here and there as i have done my trials & errors. here are the ingredients i use for the bolognese sauce:

3 table spoons (or even more maybe) of extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
3/4 of onion, 1 celery, 1/2 carrot, fresh rosemary, all finely chopped, or put in a food processor altogether
300 – 400 g of minced pork/beef (mixed)
1+ cup of red wine (or generous pour directly from the bottle!)
10 – 15 cherry tomatoes
a lot of ground pepper
1 – 2 tea spoon of salt

the tip of this sauce is to simmer the vegetable in low heat for 15 – 20 minutes (this way it gives some sweetness to the sauce). then add meat, put the flame up to medium heat, cook it for a few minutes until the meat is brown, then pour the wine, put the halved cherry tomatoes, put the lid on, lower the heat again to minimum and simmer again for at least 30 minutes. add salt & pepper to taste at the end. after turning off the heat, it’s even better if you can leave it for 1 – 2 hours for the taste to settle, and reheat before serving. the ingredients above should serve 4 people at least.

i sometimes make the double portion of the sauce, first to eat with tagliatelle or penne or rigatoni, etc., and then a few days later i make one of my signature dishes, lasagna (i hope to upload the recipe sometime in the near future).

tagliatelle bolognese reminds me of italy, especially the central part of the country – bologna, of course, where the dish was originated, firenze, siena, roma… whenever i miss the beautiful landscape and their delicious cuisine, i prepare this dish as if to compensate the missing piece of la dolce vita.

from time to time, i make pizza at home. whenever i suggest to make pizza, my husband gets overjoyed. i don’t know what the power it possesses, but it seems to me that the feeling is quite universal. i’ve never experienced a strong “no” against the offer for pizza from anyone before. i wonder what it is with pizza – is it the handiness or the greasiness, or is it the idea of eating junky food which somehow rejuvenates yourself?

whatever it is, pizza makes people happy. tonight, i believe, i have succeeded in making one person happy.

******************

preparation:

2 small sized pizza doughs, slightly grazed with extra virgin olive oil & tomato sauce (i use a can of tomatoes, strained, no spice/salt added)

heat the oven to 240 C

*** 1st version: mushroom & white asparagus pizza

– 6 mushrooms, thinly sliced
– 5 white asparagus, lightly boiled and cut into 3 pieces each
– a half of mozzarella cheese
– sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil
– salt & pepper to taste

place the ingredients above neatly on top of the dough, in the order above, and bake it in the oven for 12 minutes or so.

*** 2nd version: chorizo (or salsiccia picante) pizza

– 2 chorizo sausages, pulled apart into pieces with fingers
– sprinkle of thyme (dry)
– a half of mozzarella cheese
– sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil
– salt & pepper to taste

place the ingredients above neatly on top of the dough, in the order above, and bake it in the oven for 12 minutes or so.

*******************

buonissime!!!

it’s a friday night! although the heat has mitigated a bit in the late august, the humidity is still there in tokyo. on the way back from work, i stopped at a grocery store and found a pack of super fresh sardine, intended for the use as sashimi. i could’ve done a japanese dish with it, but no, had to improvise something which goes very well with ice cold white wine.

today’s menu is very summery. starting with il prosciuto e melone (parma ham and melon), i spaghettini alla puttanesca (with the fresh sardine – grilled in the japanese gas grill) as a main dish, and on the side, la insalata del estate (an improvisation with celery, lettuce, tuna fish and boiled egg, in french vinegriette). all of the dishes are quite refreshing, with some summer ingredient(s), and perfect marriage with il vino bianco secco.

my trick for the puttanesca sauce is to have a perfect balance of garlic, hot chili pepper, olives, capers, anchovies and salt. it cannot be too salty or too blunt. the proportion tonight was not too bad, which was roughly:

3 table spoons of olive oil (extra virgin of course),
1 hot chili pepper (sliced),
1 clove of garlic (smashed),
16 olives (halved),
2 table spoons of capers,
4 filets of anchovies,
salt & pepper to taste (only if necessary, especially the salt)
and 40 cherry tomatos

that’s about it.

the salad i made was inspired by the “goya” salad which we once had at an asian fusion restaurant in our neighbourhood called “tahiti“. goya is extremely bitter squash which is often eaten in okinawa, the southern island of japan. tonight, i didn’t have the goya, but instead used celery which can be quite bitter. the taste tranquilizer is the hard boiled egg. after mixing all the ingredients, all i have to do is to sprinkle the grated boiled egg on top of it. it is both visually and tastefully appealing!

peach is one of my favorite fruits. we received this nice box of peaches from a very good friend of mine in osaka. these peaches are from a place called wakayama, a prefecture right next to osaka, west region of honshu island.

once again it is so hot in tokyo, and we wanted something cold, fresh & juicy. “spaghettini con pomodorini e pesca” is a perfect solution for the occasion. influenced by the dish we once had at a restaurant called Dal Matto (www.dal-matto.com) near our flat. the spaghettini are washed in cold water after being boiled, mixed with extra virgin olive oil and cherry tomatoes. this time i used basil to give some kick to the composition.

for the main course, i made sword fish (lemon butter sauce) with potato salad on the side (leftover from the night before).

itadakimasu!