Judith Cooks

26/12/2023

19/12/2023

Again, try it!

24/07/2021

24/12/2019

Here’s the recipe for last night’s favorite dish. Whether you call it Leek Soufflé, or Sformato di Porri, you’ll like it just fine. It can be a vegetarian main, or a rich side dish. If you’re pressed for time on the day, you can prepare the leeks ahead of time, then keep them in theFrdge already cooked until you make the dish.
Ingredients:
6-8 cups of cleaned and thinly sliced leeks, or even ten. Leeks come in all sizes, so I can’t say 2 or 4 leeks.
Olive oil for sautéing them.
Salt and pepper, figure 3/4 teaspoon of salt per pound of leeks.
About half a smaller loaf of rustic bread, stale is best, cut into cubes about 1”
2 cups milk, or 480 ml
2 eggs
A scraping of nutmeg
3 ounces (100 g) pecorino, or maybe you could use caciocavallo, grated
About 1 ounce (30 g) of parmigiano
Method:
Preheat the oven to180 C or 350 F. Butter a 2 quart/liter soufflé dish or other ovenproof casserole dish.Sauté the cleaned and sliced leeks in olive oil, lightly salted, and if you cover them over low heat you won’t have to watch them so carefully.
Put the cooked leeks in a bowl, and add the bread cubes. Mix the milk with the eggs and use a fork to combine them well. Add the grated cheese and the nutmeg. Stir it all up well. Scrape it into the buttered oven dish. Grate the Parmigiano over the top, and put it in the oven. Cook about 45 minutes, or until puffy and golden. I use a probe thermometer and cook to an internal temperature of 140 F.
Serve to hungry people.
Leftovers can be reheated and it will repuff.

14/04/2019

It’s a good time to make this dish. You won’t be sorry.
https://judithagreenwood.wordpress.com/2006/01/22/its-still-winter-here/

More leeks? Yes, and worthy of the attention. When I do menus, or when I want to suggest what will go well with a course I’ve just made a new recipe for, I sometimes say “an elaborate v…

03/12/2018

15/07/2018

It's July, and it's time for outdoor food that you can make a bit ahead, and that will be safe to leave on the table for a while. Here's one of the two most popular of my published recipes.

This is the hit of my cooking year so far. I worked up the recipe because a client had a person who would not eat cheese so I wanted a second primo without any. In a meal full of favorites, this sa…

11/03/2018

This suits today's weather.
https://judithagreenwood.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/stuffed-rib-pork-chops-or-costellette-di-maiale-ripiene/

This recipe is just a lovely thing, but I have been having a hard time sitting myself down to write it. It is the meat course from the menu of April 7, 2008. I’ve cooked it four times, photog…

03/10/2017

Old Fashioned Gingerbread

A quick and easy sweet that should be eaten hot with whipped cream, hard sauce, lemon sauce or a simple ice cream on top. It's a lot like pumpkin spice!
At the top the US recipe which I took from the 1959 edition of The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Below will be the European version in metric measures and in Italian. It will take about 15 or less minutes to make and then cooks in 30-45 minutes. If you like sweet breakfasts, you could get the wet and the dry ingredients ready the night before, then combine them with the water in the morning. Your shower and dressing should fit into the baking time.

Butter and flour an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan, 2 or more inches high.
Heat the oven to 350 F

4 oz (.5 cup) butter at room temperature5 cup sugar
1 large egg5 cup molasses
1.5 cups plain flour75 teaspoon salt75 teaspoon baking soda -- bicarbonate of soda5 teaspoon cinnamon5 teaspoon powdered ginger5 cup boiling water

In a medium to large bowl put the butter, and stir it to soften it. If your room is cold, but the bowl over a pan with hot water from the faucet and it will stir up just fine.
Add the sugar and stir it in in two batches. Add the egg and stir it in quite vigorously. Add the molasses and stir it again to completely incorporate it.
In a bowl assemble the flour, salt, bicarbonate, cinnamon and ginger. Mix lightly.
Measure out the boiling water.
Start beating in the flour mixture, about 1/4 at a time, alternating with the water, beat until amalgamous and smooth.
Scrape the batter into the baking pan, smoothing the top even. Pop into the oven. A 9" square will take about 30 minutes, and an 8" square from 35-45. Test in the middle with a toothpick. It should come out with no more than a tiny trace of a crumb on it. Cut into squares and eat it hot.

Torta al Zenzero

Scalda il forno a 180C

Imburra e infarina una forma 20-22 cm quadrata

113 g b***o a temperatura ambiente
105 g zucchero
1 uovo grande
119 ml melasse
195 g farina 0075 cucchiaino sale75 cucchiaino bicarbinato5 cucchiaino canella5 cucchiaino zenzero in polvere
119 ml acqua bollente

Mette il b***o in una ciottola media grande. Mescola il b***o fino a e' morbida, e poi aggiunge lo zucchero la meta' alla volta, mescolando bene per fare una crema. Poi aggiunge l'uovo, mescolando molto bene, e poi la melasse, mescolando fino a forma una crema liscia e ben ammalgamata.
In un'altra ciottola mette la farina, il sale, il bicarbonato, la canella e lo zenzero.
Misura l'acqua bollente.
Aggiunge il composto di farina, pian piano, alternata con l'acqua, circa 1/4 alla volta, mescolando vigorosamente.
Adesso si trasferisce il composto alla forma, e infornalo. Sara' cotta la torta dopo circa 30 minuti per una di 22 cm o circa 35-45 per 20 cm. Inserisce lo stuzzicadente al centro, e quando esce pulito la torta e' pronta. La mangia calda con panna montata o gelato gusto panna or crema o vanigliato.
La melasse non e' sempre facila a trovare, ma vale la pena perche ha un gusto molto piacevole e anche e' una fonte di ferro.

04/09/2017

Here's a link to something I make each year right about now. It's a very useful pantry item and a nice gift, if you grow herbs.

This is the most powerful thing I have made this year. I found the original idea in a preserving magazine, where it claimed to be a substitute for commercial vegetable broth cubes, but when I read …

23/08/2017

In August, it isn't only zucchine that are everywhere, even showing up on your doorstep in the night, it's eggplant/aubergine/melanzane, too. I reached the point where all the recipes I had for stuffed eggplant had become, for me, stuffy. I sat down and had a think about why, and then made a recipe to overcome the problem. This dish is light, low calorie, easy, healthful and most of all, sprightly delicious.
It has the added advantage of being safe to serve at room temperature or to carry on a picnic.
There's your before and after. Here's the recipe:

Melanzane ripiene al timo e limone

1 medium melanzane, aubergine, eggplant
1/2 medium onion,diced or chopped small
1/2 medium red bell pepper/capsicum, diced 1/4" or less than 1 cm.
1/2 cup or 125 ml dry bread crumbs
grated peel of one lemon
about a teaspoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 egg
1 ounce or 30 grams grated Parmigiano Reggiano plus more for on top
6-10 grinds of pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt plus about 1/4 teaspoon for the shells
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350F or 175 C.

Wash the melanzane, trim the leaf end off then cut in two lengthwise. Using a sharp paring knife, cut away the inside leaving between 1/4 and 1/3 inch all around. Rub the cut sides with olive oil, then sprinkle the +-1/4 teaspoon of salt on them, place on a baking pan.

Chop the innards you removed relatively finely and put the result in a medium mixing bowl. Dice the onion and the pepper and add those. Add the breadcrumbs, the grated lemon peel, the lemon juice, the Parmigiano, the thyme, the salt and the egg. Grate the black pepper over it. Mix thoroughly with a fork, and then pile the filling into the two shells, using your hands to help mound it up. It will sink and shrink in cooking. Even piling it up I had a bit left over, which I fried in olive oil, and it was tasty.

Sprinkle top tops generously with grated Parmigiano, then drizzle olive oil over, a couple of teaspoons each.

Bake it in the oven for an hour. Eat hot or cool, it's actually the kind of thing to make early and eat later, or take on a picnic, as it is all safely stable ingredients that will be fine for several hours.

06/08/2017

It's supposed to stay under 100 F today, so I decided to experiment with making Italian sandwich rolls. I used my forever recipe, which I will type below, and doubled the oil to create more chew. I've slashed two and left the others smooth to see what difference it makes.

The dough:
500 grams plain flour
14 grams salt
12 ounces or 370 ml warm water
1 packet dry yeast
67 ml or 2 ounces olive oil
1 egg, beaten, for an egg wash

Put a spoonful or two of the flour into the warm water, then the yeast. Leave it for a few minutes to be sure the yeast is alive.
Put the rest of the flour and the salt in a big bowl. Using your hands or dough hooks, mix the water mixture into the flour, manipulating it until all the flour is incorporated, then mix in the oil thoroughly.
In this heat I just covered the bowl with a wet kitchen cloth and left it on the work surface for 1-1/2 hours.
When the dough is fully risen, scrape it out onto a well-floured surface and knead for a few minutes to calm the yeast down. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Using your hands, flatten each piece into a rectangle, then roll it tightly, pinching the seam closed, and place on a baking sheet (covered in baking paper if possible).
Make a humid tent using, that wet cloth from before, supported on 4 glasses. Allow to rise 45 minutes. Brush gently with the beaten egg, slash if you like, and put them into a 200 C or 400 F oven for about 35 minutes. Put on a rack to cool.
All these times would change if my kitchen were as cool as it usually is in winter.
I don't think the slashing helped at all.

28/01/2017

This is homey, old-fashioned plum pie, made with yellow plums from last summer. For plums I make a peach pie recipe, more or less, but with added flour because they're even juicier than peaches. The theme is plum blossoms and music, and so I thought of Laurie Feldman while making it.

12/01/2017

One of the great painters here, but as a cook, maybe not the maestro he is with the brushes.

23/12/2016

For my friends who claim I never publish my recipes in Italian, here is a new one.
Per gli amici chi si lamentano che non pubblico le ricette in italiano, eccociqua! Biscotti di limone e pistacchi.
If you cannot find unsalted pistachios, shell salted ones then rub them between two clean kitchen towels and they'll be fine once the loose salt is siifted off.
Se non trovi i pistacchi senza sale (l'ho trovato a Eurospin) una volta sono sgusciati, massagarli tra due panni di cucina puliti e poi scuoteli in un passino e abbastanza sale sarebbe tolto.

Lemon-Pastichio Cookies
Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups plain flour (325 g farina 00)
1 teaspoon salt ( 1 cucchiaino di sale)
8 ounces butter at room temperature (225 g b***o a temperatura ambientale)
3/4 cup sugar (210 g zucchero)
2 egg yolks (2 tuoli d'uova)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (2 cucchiaini essenza di vaniglia)
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (2 cucchiai bucca di limone grattugiata) solo il giallo
1/2 cup coarsely chopped unsalted pistachio meats (2 tazzine di caffe di pistacchi senza sale, trittate grossolanamente)
about 1/4 cup of British lemon sherbet or lemon flavored sugar (+- 33 g Lemon sherbet o zucchero limonato)

Method:
Measure into a bowl the flour and salt, then set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter until light and almost white. Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the flour and salt mixture and beat in well. Dough hooks will help with that step. It will make a heavy dough. Add the lemon zest and the chopped pistachios, mixing in well. Knead with your hands in the bowl briefly to be sure the nuts are well distributed.
Cut two pieces of plastic wrap about 18" long. Divide the dough into two pieces and put one half on a piece of plastic wrap, forming it into a log shape about 2-1/4" in diameter, as round as you can get it. Roll the log up in the wrap and refrigerate. Do the same with the other half. Leave in the fridge 2 hours.
When ready to bake, set the oven at 325F/160 C, then line two cookie sheets with baking paper or silicone baking sheets. If you use the silicone sheets, they will bake a bit faster, so watch carefully.
Unwrap one log, leaving it on its wrap. Add half the lemon sherbet or sugar in a line along the cookie log, then roll the log in it, getting all the outside covered and using your fingers to get it to stick everywhere.
With a very sharp knife, cut the log into slices just shy of 1/4" thick and lay them on the baking sheet. They can be close as they don't spread. Bake them for about 12 minutes up to 15 minutes, just until the edges start to turn golden. Take them out and use a spatula to remove them to a cooling rack. The edges should be crisp and the center just melty. Keep in an airtight container for a week or freeze.
Metodo:
Mette la farina e il sale in una ciottola e lascia il misto aparte.
In una ciottola grande, mescola il b***o e lo zucchero con forza fino a sono amalgamati molto bene e sono quasi bianchi. Aggiunge i tuorli e la vaniglia e mescola ancora bene. Aggiunge la farina e sale. ancora mescolando con forza. Aggiunge la buccia di limone e i pistacchi, distribuendo tutte e due molto bene. Lavora l'impasto con le mani per essere sicura che e' ben amalgamato. Divide l'impasto in due parti.
Fai due pezzi di pellicola circa mezzo metro di lunghezza. Prende la meta' del impasto e sulla pellicola fa un cilindro di diametro circa 6 cm. Rotolarlo ben tondo, e chiude la pellicola e lascialo in frigo almeno 2 ore. Fa lo stesso con l'altro meta'.
Quando vuole cuocerli, riscalda il forno a 160 C, poi mette la carta del forno su due placche grandi. Poi una per una, sfare i pachetti, lasciando il cilindro sulla pellicola. Distribuire la meta' dello zucchero limonato o sherbet lungo il cilindro e rotolare l'impasto per fare una copertura dello zucchero, anche leggiera ma completa. Con un coltello molto tagliente fa le fette un po' meno che 1 cm. Mettele sulla carta, anche vicine, perche' non allargono in forno. Infornarli per circa 12 minuti, fino a imbiondono i bordi leggermente. Non devono essere cotto di piu, perche' i bordi possono essere croccante, ma il centro deve essere soffice e deve scioglere in bocca. Con una spatula, mette i biscotti sulle rete per rinfrescare completamente. Tieneli in un contenitore ermeticamente sigillato per una settimana o congelarli.

23/12/2016