Blood Orange Panna Cotta
Blood Orange Panna Cotta
After years of complaining about restaurants adding flavors to the classic panna cotta,
a northern Italian dessert that is literally “cooked cream”,
this week I finally changed my mind and made a batch of panna cotta with some blood oranges that are in season right now.
The result was a fantastic mix of sweet cream and citrus flavors with a drizzle of acacia honey.
I should of tried it sooner. If you want the "classic" recipe, just omit the orange juice and zest.
Bugie di Carnevale
Bugie di Carnevale
Carnevale in Italy is a month long public festival with more partying towards the end of February.
Lent is book ended by Carnevale and Pasquetta(little Easter, always the day after Easter, big, all day, outdoor BBQ with lots of wine!), two big parties of eating rich foods and drinking.
One of these rich foods is Bugie di Carnevale, a fried pastry sprinkled with sugar.
It is literally everywhere during the month of February.
This is a recipe we got from our neighbor Pina. For the past 2 years I have made these with her during Carnevale.
Definition of Carnevale in Wikipedia
The Lenten period of the Liturgical year Church calendar, being the six weeks directly before Easter, was marked by fasting and other pious or penetential practices. Traditionally during Lent, no parties or other celebrations were held, and people refrained from eating rich foods, such as meat, dairy, fats and sugar. The forty days of Lent, recalling the biblical account of the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness, serve to mark an annual time of turning. In the days before Lent, all rich food and drink had to be disposed of. The consumption of this, in a giant party that involved the whole community, is thought to be the origin of Carnival.
Carnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party. People often dress up ormasquerade during the celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life.