The Sunny Kitchen - An Italian cook in Amsterdam

New cooking show on Italian TV: my own :)

Since May 2 I have my very own cooking show on Gambero Rosso Channel, Italy's first and biggest food channel.
It's called "La Cucina degli Altri" (other people's cuisines) and it's about world cooking, one of my culinary passions.
Up to now we've recorded 40 episodes on the Mexican, Chinese, Turkish, Japanese and Persan cuisine and I enjoy myself immensely every time I'm in Rome to work in the Gambero Rosso studios.

It's a marvellous experience that gives me the chance to learn even more about my beloved "World Cuisine" and to meet great chefs from all over the planet.
For example Diana Beltrán of Mexican restaurant "La Cucaracha" in Rome, chef Kam Kwan Fong (Rita Fong) of Chinese restaurant "Lon Fon" in Milan and chef Hossein of Iranian's restaurant "Kabab" in Rome (here you can see me working with them on the set).

La Cucina degli Altri can be seen all over the world (it's in Italian, though).
If you have a satellite antenna tune in on Sky, channel 411.
The show is on-air 3 times a day, from Monday to Friday, at 10.30, 14.30 and 23.00 CET, and you can watch the promo below.

You can also follow me on Facebook.

See you on Gambero Rosso Channel! :)

 

 

 

 

Cooking video: oven dish with porcini mushrooms and potatoes

I’ve been on holiday, AT LAST.
In spite of the fact that I adore my job I was totally fed up with working – I’ve been working hard all Summer – and, horror of horrors, I hadn’t had a REAL holiday in the last four years.

So the REAL holiday I long dreamed finally became a reality at the end of October. I spent it in a lovely B&B in  Pontassieve (Florence) doing nothing but eating, drinking, sleeping, going to visit nice places and nice people and sitting in front of the fireplace with my belly full of wonderful stuff that I can only dream of when I’m home (in Amsterdam, that is). :)
Something like the twohundredfiftyfivemillions different types of Tuscan pecorino cheese (OMG they make so many here and they’re all wonderful!!!). Or the little wild boar salamis made in small-scale and free from additives unlike the mainstream ones. And really fresh porcini mushrooms. And what about fried artichokes the way my mum makes them? (I’m sooooo lucky, she’s was sharing this holiday with me so I was able to eat them again!).

Talking of my mum and of porcini mushrooms, , I thought of filming her during one of her cooking sessions here in Tuscany.
In this video she’s making one of her many  classics, porcini mushrooms and potatoes in the oven.

We found some wonderful porcini – this is the perfect season – and we decided to prepare this yummy side dish.
Red potatoes are amazing and stay perfectly firm so I really advise using them for this dish. If you like, you can also slice them a bit thicker and cook them a bit longer. If you’re a millionaire or related to a millionaire – porcini are quite pricey -you can build even more layers to make this dish even more luscious and sinful.

Mmmm, what a great taste, and with so little ingredients. Just porcini, potatoes, olive oil, salt and oregano. A bit of black pepper wouldn’t be bad idea at all, if you like it.

For the recipe and the video in Italian, click here.

 

Porcini mushrooms and potatoes in the oven from Amici in video on Vimeo.

 

 

 

Oriental Food and Wine tasting

Have you always thought that Oriental food and wine are an IMPOSSIBLE combination? Or do you keep on ordering the usual Gewürztraminer or beer with it? Get ready for a big surprise and join us in our combined Oriental Food and Wine tasting!

Rosie cooks her wonderful Singapore and Malay dishes and Nicoletta creates the most surprising, exclusive and exciting wine pairings for them that you’ve ever tried!

What did you think of a Sambal Goreng (mixed vegetables with tempeh, tofu and tamarind) served with an amazing Lambrusco amabile with a hint of sweetness from the best and most reputable Lambrusco wine house in Italy? Or a Chicken curry paired with a juicy, sexy and fabulously tasting Pinot Noir from New Zealand?
Come and try six wonderful food & wine combinations with us!
From starter, served with exclusive Italian rosé bubbles, to dessert we’ll conquer your taste buds and make you fall in love with our way of eating and drinking!  

Rosie is a chef and cooking teacher born and raised in Singapore. Previously, she owned the locally popular Rosie’s Nasi Padang, a Singapore outdoor hawker restaurant. Thanks to her mother, a great cook by profession and her mentor, she learned the ropes of cooking authentic Oriental dishes. Find out more about her on her website: www.flavoursofsingapore.nl

Nicoletta is a born and raised Italian who works as a chef, a cooking teacher and a sommelier with a great passion and enthusiasm for food and wine pairings. She’ll tell you about her wine choices and together with Rosie she will guide you through this unique tasting experience. Find out more about her on her website: www.cucinadelsole.nl

Rosie and Nicoletta have joined forces and created a delicious Oriental menu with original and unusual wine pairings.
Come and taste with us, and enjoy an evening of great food, great wines and very pleasant company!
For reservations: info@flavoursofsingapore.nl

Dates: August 20, September 18, October 16 2010
Hours: 19.00 – 23.00 hrs
Price: € 80,00 - for 6 courses and 6 different wines
Group size: 10-12 persons
Address: Jan van Zutphenstraat 63, 1069 RR Amsterdam

Cooking video: focaccia barese with tomatoes

 
My friend Claudio Varone, architect and artist, loves to cook.

No wonder, practically all of my friends love to cook, otherwise they wouldn't be my friends. ;)

You might remember Claudio as the author of my favourite spritz cocktail. He's also a great cook who loves to reproduce the dishes of his birth region, Puglia. He's a Barese (native of Bari), to be precise, and it's funny that we grew up in the same city having common friends but we never met until a lot later, when we were both already living in Amsterdam. 
In Bari we grew up with the typical focaccia with tomatoes that every school kid in Bari eats when coming out of school, hungry like a wolf. Some of the best panifici (bakeries) in town are strategically placed close to schools and I guess that's not by chance: the quantity of focaccia sold to young students is MASSIVE.

We had already been experimenting with focaccia al pomodoro twice, with growing satisfaction but not completely happy about the end results. A few days ago we gave it another try with a recipe from the book "Pane, pizze e focacce" written by Laura Ginapri changing only the type of flour used (half durum wheat and half "00" type instead of 100% "00" flour as in the original recipe) and the result really made us happy. Worth an immediate "memory lane" flash.
You can see the product of our efforts here in my newest video.
Long-time French friend Pascal helped Claudio in preparing the focaccia. We actually made two types of focaccia, one of which - the one Pascal worked at more intensively, with a mashed potato in it, a common ingredient in Bari's home-made focaccia's - ended up in a bit of a drama, as you can see on the right. Very tasty but still a sticky drama.

So from now on we prefer to stick to this one, an AMAZINGLY tasty focaccia with crunchy bits (usually the sides) and a softer center.
Make sure you spread the dough quite thinly in the oven dish, it's important that it doesn't get too thick.
All in all this focaccia comes out quite crunchy thanks to the abundant use of olive oil, something that characterizes the Apulian cuisine (just look at my Mom's tiella!).

Focaccia al pomodoro barese

Serves... just a few happy few, it's too good to eat with moderation :D

Ingredients:

200 gr. / 7 oz durum wheat flour
200 gr. / 7 oz type "00" flour
25 gr. / 0.8 oz. fresh brewer's yeast
300 ml/10.14 fl. oz lukewarm water
2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 tablespoon of milk
a can of good quality peeled tomatoes (we used Mutti)
a handful of black olives
dried oregano
salt
coarse sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

Mix the two types of flour in a big bowl.
Dilute the yeast completely in part of the lukewarm water and add it to the two flours mixing well. After a while - wait for about 4-5 minutes so that the yeast can do its work properly, salt inhibits its effects - add the salt, also diluted, and then the rest of the water. Mix and add the milk, mixing a bit further.
The dough has to be very soft and sticky.
Cover it with plastic foil and leave to raise for about an hour on a warm place.

Chop the canned tomatoes coarsely.

Spread the dough on a well-oiled oven dish (grease your fingers too to avoid sticking) and spread the chopped tomatoes on top of it.
Add the olives and season with oregano, a bit of coarse sea salt and plenty of olive oil.

Put in the pre-heated oven at 200°C /392°F for about 30-35 minutes and bake until golden brown.

Focaccia barese with tomato from Nicoletta Tavella on Vimeo.