I personally think tiramisu is the best dessert on Earth! It was the dessert that I was craving non-stop during my pregnancies. I typically make all my desserts at home. Scratch that, I make all my food at home: bread, buns, pasta, yogourt, etc. But at that time I couldn’t find any homemade tiramisu recipe that tasted good and was safe for me to eat while being pregnant. All the tiramisu recipes were with raw eggs and most of them with alcohol. So how to make tiramisu at home in a way that is safe for pregnant women and kids to eat?
History of the Ladyfingers
Let’s start with a little bit of history. According to Wikipedia, Ladyfingers were created in the 15th century to mark the occasion of a visit by the King of France. Other names for these cookies include savoiardi in Italy, sponge fingers in British English and Langues de Chats in Quebec. The spongy texture of Ladyfingers makes them ideal for soaking in sugar syrup or liqueur, or in coffee or espresso as a part of tiramisu. Infants enjoy these cookies because they are soft, yet easy to grasp and firm enough not to fall apart.
Did it ever happen to you that you want to eat something new but you don’t know what? Well, that happened to me the other day. I looked into the caverns of my fridge and found two poor zucchinis and one big eggplant screaming at me, “WE NEED TO BE EATEN AND SOON!”. So I came up with the idea to create a vessel to rescue my poor vegetables. I based this tasty eggplant recipe on one of my favorite dishes called Rollatini. If you are looking for a vegetarian recipe that tastes great, this is it.
By the way, Rollatini is not the actual name for it. The dish is called Involtini di Melanzane in Italy.
I like having oatmeal for breakfast, but my two girls don’t like it. I tried it in many versions: soaked all night, sweet with apple jam, raw with yogurt. No matter what I did, they did not like it! But like any good mother, I know what’s good for my kids. I know they need to eat oatmeal. Oatmeal is good for us for many reasons: it keeps cholesterol low, it’s good against heart disease, it’s a good source of magnesium, zinc, potassium, and so much more! Plus, if you eat oatmeal for breakfast, you will be sure not to get hungry until lunch. So, finally, I chose the recipe that the whole family would enjoy.
Cheese… Who doesn’t love cheese? If you have cheese you are okay 🙂 I don’t drink milk because I don’t like the taste, but I do love cheese. Ever since I tried this recipe, I stopped buying ricotta cheese from the store. My homemade ricotta cheese is so much better! There are similar recipes on the Internet, but mine is a little different in a sense that you will taste the lemon in it. It is fresh, a little tangy, and so much better than store-bought cheese. You don’t need fancy equipment or special tools, just a simple cheesecloth or even a clean light dish towel will do the trick! Don’t be afraid of making your own cheese – it is fun and really rewarding! You can even make your homemade cream cheese with this ricotta. Just add 1/2 cup of 35% cream and a pinch of salt to your prepared and cooled ricotta cheese, and mix it well with a hand blender. Keep it cool and it’s good for a week.
Did you know that the most ordered dish in an Italian restaurant is a lasagna? And do you know why? Because a good homemade lasagna takes time. You need to boil the water, cook the pasta, dry the pasta, prepare the sauce, prepare the béchamel sauce if you want any, and shred all the cheeses. So yes, a classic lasagna takes a lot of time. Between the job and the kids, our time is usually in short supply, so I keep trying to reproduce classical recipes in a way that would be faster to prepare.
There are still quite a few steps that need to be done, but wherever I could save time, I found a way without sacrificing the taste. I hope you will enjoy it as much as my family enjoyed it.
If you don't like spinach or don't have any, you can do this recipe without it.
Tzatziki is one of my favorite side dishes. I used it as a dip, served with julienned vegetables and some pitas. My kids loved it! But most of the time I use it as a sauce to go with my fish and chips, or my pork or chicken pitas! I have a confession, I am addicted to garlic in any shape or form: in a sauce, roasted, in a salad, in a dip. Wherever there is garlic, count me in! 🙂
I use Lebanese cucumbers in this recipe, they are almost seedless and contain less water than other cucumbers. They won't add too much water into your sauce.
Here in Canada, we have a popular spread called cretons. It is a fatty-meat spread with onions and spices. We eat cretons with a toast in the morning, in a sandwich for lunch, or as a 3 o’clock snack. Any time is a good time for this spread. 🙂
Traditional cretons preparation involves covering 1-3 lb of ground pork shoulder in milk in a large pot, then seasoning it with onions and a mix of spices. The blend of spices varies from recipe to recipe, but nearly all include ground cloves. Other spices often include cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and bay leaf. The mixture is simmered gently over low heat and stirred often to prevent scorching until all the liquid is cooked off and the mixture is thick. It is then allowed to cool, then stirred again to incorporate all the rendered fat, and transferred to a large, clean container or individual containers, covered tightly, and refrigerated for several hours or overnight until firm. Pig marrow is also often added to form a gelatin that allows it to congeal.
In Europe, they have rillettes, which were traditionally made with fatty pork belly or pork shoulder. The meat was cubed, salted and cured, cooked slowly over low heat until very tender, then raked into small shreds and blended with the warm cooking fat to form a rustic paste. Rillettes could be stored in crocks for several months. They also use it as a spread, on a toast or crackers.
This recipe is a fusion between rillettes and cretons. It is so easy to make, and you can freeze it in small containers, and keep it up to 4 months in the freezer.
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