Super Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

 

So pleased to see a new Giada De Laurentiis cookbook. I love Super Italian, the food is craveable. It’s definitely healthier book, but also definitely not a Diet  book - it’s La Dolce Vita! 

The previous healthy one from a few years ago, now looking backwards makes total sense, healing clean detox food, that Giada needed then to right her digestion and health. Whereas now, in a new chapter of her life, healed, she has more flow and is cooking more intuitively again. The recipes all look like something you’d want to eat. It’s just a real benefit that that they are indulgent with great ingredients. 

Age wise I’m similar to Giada, and honestly I’m having problems with my tummy and digestion too. All stemming from not looking after myself properly. I look after and care for my family, it’s never really been even a side thought to do the same for me! Giada isn’t preachy in any way, but she tells her story and I can certainly identify with the things she describes, and now that this book is out I’m more inclined to look back to the previous one too.

The first two recipes I’ve tried are her Sicilian pesto which is then used in Sicilian pesto with prawns (shrimp) both pesto and pasta were delicious. Good, satisfying, but not heavy. 

It’s been a while since Giada has written a new book, and she is back with a cracker! Really looking forward to cooking so many recipes from this new book and picking up some of Giada’s healthy tips and tricks along the way. 

Sweet Tooth by Sarah Fennel

 Hello hello, long time no see! I’m still here, still a cook book obsessive and still cooking. I buy fewer books now, which is a matter of space, pickiness and money too to some extent. Good books are more expensive than they used to be, unless you are as good and famous as Mary Berry, in which case the cost still seems reasonable due to economies of scale.  I digress though, I’ve missed writing about and sharing good cookery books. So just like that I thought I’d start once again.  

So where to start? Well, this one came out last year, from Broma Bakery website founder Sarah Fennel. I’ve followed her for years online, and always thought she should indeed have a book. So it came to be and Sweet Tooth was born. It’s a brilliant baking book. It has everything you’d want including a Holiday / Christmas chapter - joy of joys! 

I made the Cosmic Cookies, my daughter loves a soft cookie, and these were just perfect. Super chocolate-y with yummy ganache topping  and I sprinkled with hearts and dried raspberry pieces.  In the book Sarah used multi coloured candy coated chocolate, that I’ve not seen in the UK, but then Cosmic Brownies are not a thing here either! Have a look at Sarah’s picture if you buy or have the book, the picture is gorgeous. It’s definitely what drew me in to make this recipe. 

Picnic Sandwiches and Krispie Treats

 In the time when I wasn’t blogging, I discovered Teighan Gerard and her Half Baked Harvest website.  Her recipes are so good. She has a couple of excellent cookbooks, which I’ll get to in another post, but even if you don’t have her books, her website is wonderful. She is the blog I follow every post, and have done for coming up two years now. 

Anyhow, I’ve made a couple of her website recipes recently. The first Picnic Style Brie and Procuitto Sandwiches is a really treaty lunch. I swapped in ham and salami for procuitto, but really just use what you like. Perked up our Monday lunch time. 🙂

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The second is one I’ve been meaning to try for ages, Chocolate Covered Brown Butter Krispie Treats (also has peanut butter and pretzels in them!). A fab little no-bake recipe, that is so cute with the pretzels on top. Yum 😋 

Chocolate and Amaretti Custards

 This one was an unplanned pudding. It was one of those nights, earlier this week when I was just plain craving chocolate.  I’m trying to limit my chocolate consumption, so I only keep some in the house. These little cups though, are made with cocoa, which I always have. 

Chocolate and amaretti custards comes from A Table in Venice by Skye McAlpine. This is the first book by Skye, and I resisted it for a while. Did I really need another Italian cookbook?! Once I saw it in a bookshop though, it was a done deal! I did, and do need it. 

It’s not a Summer book, but I tend to cook from it in the Summertime. This is probably influenced by the one time I have been to Venice being in the hot Summer. My husband has been back with work in December and it was perishing cold, but my memories are different.  I can still remember coming from the airport in a boat and this wall of heat just hitting us in the face.  By the afternoon, I was simply melting. I can recall sitting on a seat of some sort outside, and looking at the stone pavement, thinking, that’ll be cool for the soles of my feet.  Except Venice is not Scotland, and the stones were extremely hot! Note to self: never do that again. 

It was a day trip from Aberdeen that our local paper ran, probably about 28 years ago. In a time before global warming and worrying about plane travel was really on the table. 

Anyhow, these were the perfect chocolate-y quick to make puddings.  I’ve also made the tortellini in broth this week too, and although I didn’t take a picture, it was lovely too. 

Sticky Toffee Cupcakes

 These sticky toffee cupcakes are my husband’s absolute favourite. They are my slight variation on the ones in The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days. In the normal run of things, I decorate them with chopped dates, as I tend towards things being decorated in a way that lets you know what they are. However, I was going to make these for Father’s Day for him, so bought a box and edible rice paper pansies and leaves.  Just getting round to making them now, but I though I might as well use the bits and pieces I bought.  Thinking the rest of the flower decorations will be pretty on a cheesecake or something.   

Rose Eton Mess

 This one isn’t from a book, but from The Sunday Times Magazine. 

A couple of weeks ago, Skye McAlpine’s column was about edible flowers. When I saw her recipe for strawberry and rose Eton mess, it had to be done. I’d actually meant to make it for Father’s Day for my husband, but we were too full, so saved the berries for tonight.  I made half the quantity and only used 300ml of cream. Perfect for the 3 of us.  

Rigatoni with Mascarpone and Pancetta

 A Table For friends by Skye McAlpine was one of my most favourite books that was published last year.  It’s just such a joy to read - and cook and plan from. As is her previous book A Table in Venice. 

Tonight we had Skye’s rigatoni with mascarpone and pancetta. It’s like an easy take on carbonara, and as she says it’s very comforting. I’ve made one of her no-churn ice creams today as well, but it’s in the freezer setting, as I didn’t get my act together in enough time! More on that another day.