Castagnole, an Italian Carnival treat

 

Today is Martedì Grasso the last day of Carnival all over the world. Except Milan, where it is just beginning.

 

My daughter was home sick last week for three days and as a result she missed a costume party she had really been looking forward to, although I am sure the insane brave grandmother who yearly hosts this party for the whole class was not too upset to have a third grader less running around her apartment.

 

My daughter was a good sport about it all, despite her disappointment, and so I decided to surprise her and organize our own little Carnival party at home. My son's pre-school was closed for a few hours on the same day for meetings, so it seemed like the perfect way to fill an afternoon. We pulled out streamers and I set up a little make-up corner and we had ourselves a good time.

 

 

For it to be a real party, however, we needed snacks. I had some fruit juice stashed away but nothing even closely resembling Carnival treats so I decided to look up a recipe online. Carnival sweets are usually quite basic fried batters or doughs, recipes from a very long time ago when people did not have great means and when there were very few ingredients to choose from after a long winter. The most popular varieties are chiacchiere, tortelli and frittelle, although things get a bit complicated at this point. 

 

 

 

 

As most things food in Italy (this recent  post being just an example), every region and town has a different name (and often recipe) for the same thing. Milanese chiacchiere are called galani in Venice, bugie in Genova and other names elsewhere. Venetian frittelle are made out of doughnut batter with raisins and pine nuts mixed into it, but in Milan the batter is simple and they are often filled with chocolate cream or custard. Tortelli and zeppole are a part of the same family. Then there is pignolata (as my Sicilian mother in law calls it), little balls of biscuity fried dough bound together with honey that are called struffoli in Naples. Last but not least, let us not forget castagnole (called this way because they are reminiscent of castagne, the Italian word for chestnuts), which I often ate as a child in Venice.

 

I opted for these because they seemed like the quickest and easiest of all to make: there was no time for rising as I had a very hungry Ninja Turtle and rock star waiting for their snack.

 

 

 

 

While searching on the web, I discovered that in most places they are more akin to doughnuts, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and can be filled with a variety of creams like the abovementioned tortelli (or frittelle? or zeppole?).

Very different from what I remembered.

 

Then I finally found a recipe for the castagnole that I grew up eating. It is, once again, a recipe from long ago, prepared with very simple and frugal ingredients. The castagnole were easy to make and they turned out exactly how I remembered them: not overly sweet, with a crumbly texture, almost like short crust pastry.

 

I think it took me 15 minutes tops to make them from scratch and the kids devoured them warm, proceeding to lick the confectioner's sugar off of their finger tips when they were done.

Buon Carnevale!

Ingredients (makes about 40)
50gr butter, softened
80gr sugar
3 eggs
pinch of salt
350gr flour, approximately
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

oil for deep-frying
confectioner's sugar for garnish

 

In a stand mixer or in a bowl, mix the butter and sugar until light and airy. Add in the eggs one at a time. Add a pinch of salt and the flour a little at a time, making sure the batter does not turn too dry. Add the baking powder.

 

Start heating the oil, covering the bottom of the pot by about two inches.

 

Tear small pieces of the dough off and form little balls with your hands. When the oil is hot (you can check by throwing in a little piece of dough - it should not sink), deep fry the dough balls turning them every now and then until they are golden, about 3-5 minutes. They will start cracking a bit, that is normal. When they are ready, place them on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and serve.

Sour cream & olive oil banana muffins and my promise to you

This is a healthier version of the banana bread muffin I posted about a while ago. But wait!!! Don't go just because I said the word healthy! I hereby promise I will never post a "healthy" recipe unless it tastes really good and somewhat sinful. I am the kinda girl who believes that to call something dessert, it needs its fair share of butter, sugar and - more often than not - chocolate. If I'm gonna have dessert, it has to be worth the calories.

Now, I am by no means against using the occasional whole grains, dried fruits, apple sauce, honey or yogurt, as substitutes, but it is more for depth of flavor and interesting textures. Sure, your young ones will not be able to tell the difference and if you are feeding them cake, muffins or cookies on a daily basis, by all means make it a healthy snack. But in my world treats are called treats because they are supposed to be special (and not something you indulge in all the time) and a little butter and sugar will not hurt anybody. If you want healthy, give your kid an apple! Because the truth is, no matter how good a healthy cookies is and no matter how hard you try to convince me, it will never have the buttery sweetness of the real thing. And a gooey, rich homemade brownie is still a million times better for your children than the candy, soda and tons of other junk food kids are consuming daily all over the world. Especially if you bake it together as a family.

In these muffins, out go the chocolate chips and almonds of my other post, in come sour cream (yes, I am still buying tons of it to make sure my local supermarket keeps stocking up in the belief that all customers are loving this new and quite exotic product) and olive oil.

Believe me when I say you will not miss the butter in the least and the sour cream makes these the moistest muffins I have baked so far.

Last but not least, after a few requests and in an attempt to facilitate readers, I created a page with links to several conversion tables for any doubts you may have while trying out these recipes from all continents!

Crab cakes

Crab meat has been on my mind lately and it is all Design, Wine and Dine's fault. She has posted a couple of very tempting recipes on her blog in the past months and I have been dying to make them. They are quick, easy and inexpensive (she suggests using cheaper claw meat in them) yet utterly satisfying and sophisticated enough to make for guests. I had bookmarked them and got home the other day set to make her crab cakes.

Lo and behold, I went to turn my computer on to get the recipe and had no signal. No Internet?? Well, I was disappointed to say the least, but by then I had to get my crab meat fix, I had to have me some crab cakes. I used some of the ingredients I remembered, added in some other things I found in various cookbooks, et voilà, in 10 minutes tops I made these deliciously creamy yet crunchy cakes and served them with a little tartar sauce. They make a perfect snack to serve with drinks in a smaller version but are an excellent starter or main course too.

Next time I will remember to sautee some shallots or onion to put into the mix and I am thinking a little corn wouldn't hurt either. And some horseradish perhaps for an adult version.

A side note/useful tip: when I had already mixed the crab meat with the cream cheese I realized that the jar of breadcrumbs I was sure I had seen just the other day was gone! What to do? I happened to have some rusks at home (fette biscottate in Italian and better known as twice baked bread or zwieback) and mashed up 6 of those in a bag with a rolling pin. They saved the day.

About love affairs, Asian-style chicken salad and guilt-free potato chips

Dear F,

I don't know how to tell you this, but I have fallen in love. It happened by accident, we met in a little old store on my way home from the office. I saw him and looked the other way, feigned interest for something on display. I promise you, I tried to leave and not turn back. But I couldn't help it, I could not control my urges. I turned and he was still there. Sleek and sharp looking...I couldn't resist...I left the store with him. We hit it off immediately. I did things with him I had never dreamed of doing before, I suddenly became adventurous, I wanted to try more. I couldn't help myself. Forgive me F, I have fallen for Kyocera, my new Japanese love.

Chickpeas to die for

The minute I read this recipe on Veggie Num Num's blog I knew I had to try them.

I love nibbling, I love salty, I love spicy, who doesn't? I could go through a bag of potato chips as fast as you can read up to here but I only allow myself to do so on rare occasions. So when I saw this healthy and flavorful alternative, I pulled out my mortar and went straight to work.