French Kiss: Keep on trying babe! (next time using a mint)

First trial, first failure…No, naturally not at kissing! I’m a master in that, but in making French macarons.
Those little creatures can be really evil! A nice crunchy embossed shell protecting a soft and moist heart of meringue; have two of them and a buttery/chocolaty spread at hand and you are in even. Just like a kiss, you cannot stop at just one. Why showing me the pleasure of sinning if afterwards I have to sin only once, no way! Give me the whole box and look the other way.
These delicate and flavourful flying-saucer like biscuits are a big fashion hit lately. Why? Well, does anybody figure out the reason for fashion craves? My idea is that since they are small and cute everybody fall for them (yes, you are right they are like a kitten but if you find a hair on it oh well… report it to the animal protection).

The pistachios post

We in Sicily are quite blessed by the production of yummy almonds and pistachios. The city of Agrigento has a festival for the blossoming of the almonds tree that grow in its countryside and in the Noto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noto valley. Pistachios are instead grown on the sides of the Etna volcano in the city of Bronte. We use both nuts quite a lot both in savory and sweet recipes but while almonds are more assertive, pistachios are quite subtle in taste (and more expensive too).
Almonds are omnipresent in my pesto sauces but I have not worked extensively with pistachios before; I have then decided that it was due time to face the nut.
In this post, you will find a series of experiments I made with them, mostly savory with a great classic as sweet. Let me know what you think of them.

Double potato salad with green onions and pistachios

Mac&Cheese aux trois oignons

Sometimes I am cheesy I know but who isn’t? I love cheeses wherever they are from whichever is their smell; the important thing is that they should not move by themselves on the plate. Often I make pasta with cheese (parmesan is almost in each and every of them, I just cannot get enough of umami I suppose). This time I went orange with some Old Amsterdam cheese http://www.hollandsbest.com/cheese/_popup/old_amsterdam.htm . It is such a nice cheese, firm in texture, orange in colour, fully flavoured like an aged Parmesan but creamy in texture without any discernible crystals.
To compliment its savoury nature I chose to use caramelized onions in the sauce. A sprinkle of lightly toasted black onion seeds (nigella seeds) added some crunch and an aromatic bitter note to the dish while fresh julienned spring onions bring a nice herbal spicy notes to keep the palate interested.
So here we go:
Mac & Cheese aux trois oignons.

TweetPost #2: Baking Playlist

Here we are my friends, a new baking session a new playlist. When I bake or cook I usually like to plug my iPod into my ears and listen to some shuffled music. This evening I chose to listen from my favorites and here you are what the black&silver machine chose for me:

1. Touch & Go: Straight to number one;
2. 49ers: Move your feet;
   
3. Mina: Ma che bontá;
   
4. P.Lion: Happy Children;
   
5. S-Express:Theme for S-Express;
   

Prague: the second day

During this day we wanted to visit the Jewish quarter so, woken up as usual around 9am we had our nice breakfast and headed toward town. Wondering around in the small streets and galleries of the historic centre, we spotted various interesting souvenirs shops; the most interesting being those selling glass items ranging from modern sculptures up to replicas of medieval/antique glasses. When we reached the Old Town Square, it was almost 11am so we decided to wait and admire the automaton spectacle at the astronomical clock. Oh well, we had to see it once no? (it was actually the 2nd 3rd time for me).

TweetPost #1: Chickpeas & Mussels; a couple made in Heaven!

So here we go with the fast post composed, posted and eaten without much fuss :P
The first one is about tonight's dinner. It was long time since I last had chickpeas with rice so today I decided to swig that way. This is what I came up with:
Chickpea Risotto with Tarragon and Mussel

Wann'a peek into my sleepless night?

Just gaze up at the sky...