Queezle_Sister's Reviews
3 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 3Sort by: Title 
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The Italian Farmer's Table: Authentic Recipes and Local Lore from Northern Italy
By Matthew Scialabba, Melissa Pellegrino
Three Forks - 2009
Beet Dumplings with Poppy-Seed Butter : page 192
This is a really difficult recipe to rate.
On the one hand, the flavor was amazing. But on the other hand cooking them was a disaster.
These dumplings are made from beets that were roasted and then put through a ricer. Onion and garlic are sautéed, then dry white bread is torn into pieces, and sauteed with the onions until they soften. Mix that with the beets, plus two eggs, gorganzola, milk, and chopped parsley.
All that went OK, but then you are instructed to boil these babies. My first couple completely disintegrated. I attributed that to making flattened patties, so I started over, clean water, with ball shapes. Again they completely fell apart. So I just fried the suckers.
They were rather soft, and I don't like frying, but the flavor was really amazing. Maybe a touch too much gorgonzola, and I think I'd like them even more with goat cheese.
But why did they fall apart in the water. It reminded me of the disaster I had making gnocchi from Zuni Cafe Cookbook. Any advice from you amazing cooks out there would be welcome.
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Carrot Cake (Torta Di Carote) : page 179
Tired of oil-filled cream-cheese frosted carrot cakes? Then try this one -- no added oil, and an amazing almond marzipan-like flavor.
This simple cake has only six ingredients: eggs, sugar, carrots, almond flour, rum, and ground up amaretti cookies. Six eggs are separated, the yolks mixed with sugar and the remaining ingredients, and then egg whites are beaten and folded in. The cake bakes in a 9 x 12 pan, meaning it could serve a crowd.
The texture was amazingly light. The cake was beautiful with little orange flecks from the shredded carrot. A wonderful crunchy crust formed on the top. There is a lot to love about this cake.
I did have trouble telling if it was done, and it required at least 10 additional minutes to bake.
I was delighted to be able to give a piece to my neighbor, who cannot tolerate gluten. It was a simple and unusual recipe, and something I will undoubtedly make again.
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Chocolate Cake (Torta di Ciocolatto) : page 272
Easy to prepare and intense chocolate flavor! This cake was made entirely by 13-daughter. No help from me at all. Just 5 ingredients - this recipe lets the ingredients speak for themselves. Chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs, and only 2T flour.
13 daughter tells me that the batter seemed way too thick before she folded in the beaten egg whites. The cake is baked in a springform pan, and it had a delightful crunchy crust on the outside.
This cake did require several bowls, but it came together quickly. Its a good cake to have in one's repertoire.
As a side note - this book is to be used for our June cookbook club dinner.
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