Tartufo Ice Cream with Pistacchios

I was visiting Tropea and after walking downhill a long way from the Busstop, I needed something to motivate me to walk up the hill later.

Our tourguide told us about the last trip of this week to Pizzo, Calabria. This is the capitol of Tartufo di Pizzo. An ice cream with a thick chocolate filling covered in vanilla ice cream and powdered cocoa. It has an AOC as a regional specialty.

We should wait for the last day of our tour. No way!

I sat with an other group member outside a Gelateria in Tropea. The ice cream menu showed a huge variety of ice creams. One caught my eye: Tartufo.

They had the basic one with vanilla, but a lot of other options. Since pistacchios are grown on the neighboring island of Sicilly and I love these green nuts, I ordered Tartufo Pistacchio.

It was topped with chopped pistacchios too. Very good. Now I am waiting to be blown away on Monday in Pizzo, when I eat the local one.

Pizza with a View and Ice Coffee

After the night trip and the early flight, I needed something decent. 

The Hotel has a great open shaded area beside the beach where you can get drinks, ice cream and snacks. They offer sandwiches or a pizza combo there.

My breakfast/lunch on the arrival day was first an ice coffee. But not the sweet dairy kind everybody knows. This one was totally new to me.

A fresh pressed shot of Espresso, 2 tsp of sugar and half a glass of crushed ice. Shaked well and strained in a glass that was filled with ice cubes to cool down and then thrown out.

That woke me up.

For lunch I took the pizza combo. A huge fresh baked pizza - either Margharita or with Parma ham - and a small beer.

Calabrian Dinner

I finally escaped Germany for a week. Now I am sitting outside beside the ocean in the South of Italy in Calabria. Near the town of Cabo Vaticano.

The first course had some sauteed Tropea red onions on offer. On the trip down here from the Airport in Lamezia Terme we came along at least 30 growers and sellers of the purple gold of Calabria. I am looking forward to the trip to one of the growers, where we will learn a lot about these onions.

A sightseeing tour combined with a foodtrip is right down my aile.

The rooms in this 4 star hotel leave a bit to desire, but the food is awesome. 

Here are some of the foods I've tried.

Air Fryer Caprese Bread Roll

A good alternative oven is the air fryer. For an evening snack is this a great way to use the air fryer.

I just took one potato bread roll and sprayed some olive oil on the rolls. Fresh cut tomato slices seasoned with salt and pepper on top. A large piece of mozzarella and a bit more seasoning.

At 180 C for 8 minutes and then a couple of fresh basil and a little balsamico finishes this dish.

Pork Neck Steak Hong Kong Streetfood style

I watched YT School of Wok again and found this steak sandwich with extra cheese.

That was something I had ho try today.  Grocery shopping and a trip to the butcher was needed, because we have a long weekend ahead.

What was interesting about the cooking method was the tenderization of the meat. Usually I try not to destroy the meat to much, just flatten it out. But the back of a Chinese cleaver hacked with force on the meat was new to me. It leaves deep ritches in the pork steak. That way the marinate can be massaged in easily.

The Chef on YT told, his son loves these steak sandwiches with additional Parmesan crisps. He filled a pan with grated Parmesan and set the buns with the inside on top. After taking them out of the pan the buns have a nice topping of cheese. No sauces needed.

Ingredients:

225 g pork neck steak

1 tbsp curry powder

2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp sake

1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil

1 heaped tbsp cornstarch

Oil to shallow fry in a wide pan

Parmesan grated, 1 bread roll I used a potato bread roll

Flatten the steak with the backside of your cleaver until the meat spreads out. Put it in a bowl and add curry powder, soy, sugar, sake, sesame oil and massage it.

Now add cornflour and do it again.

Grate some Parmesan to cover the bottom of your pan, slice the breadroll and set them on top. When the Parmesan has melted, get the bread out and set aside. Clean the pan.ä

With enough neutral oil to cover the bottom, heat it up to medium high. Get the steak in and brown it on each side for 3 to 5 min depending on the size. Let it rest on a plate for 3 min.

Place between the cheese crusted breadroll and enjoy.

Red Pesto Asparagus and Pasta Soup

I am cleaning out my fridge once again. This soup reminded me of a Minetrone in the end. I just left out any kind of meat.

The homemade stock was the first thing that caught my eye when I opened the fridge door. It needed to be used up, then a small bag of cooked pasta and an open package of cream cheese. The veggie drawer was full over everything.  But not enough of one to make something out of it, all different things went on the counter.

The cooking was fast. Just peel and clean the veggies and toss them in some oil to get a little color. But keep the tips of the asparagus out of the pot for later.

Pour in the veg stock and bring it up to boil. Cover and reduce the heat and cook for 12 min. Season with salt, pepper and thyme and add the red pesto and the tips.

Cream cheese and some creme fraiche makes it more moorish.

Ingredients:

400 g asparagus, 1 green onion, 1 red pepper, 1 carrot, 1/2 leek, 600 ml veg stock homemade

Salt, pepper, thyme, fresh oregano, 4 tsp red pesto

2 tbsp cream cheese, 2 tbsp creme fraiche

Asparagus Lemon Sauce with Rice

This is a very creamy kind of "Ragu", but without any meat in it.

These kinds of vegetable stews of ragus were often prepared by my Mom. That the veggies were always overcooked did not matter, because they were in a creamy sauce. Served with eiher potatoes, mash or rice we had a full meal for less money when I grew up. The use of seasonal veggies made it even more affordable.

I started this dish with a log of asparagus peel and offcuts. They went in a pot with salt, sugar and butter and enough water for a soup base later. I cooked them for 30 min and let them sit for an other 30 min. Then I took the peels and offcuts out and cooked the stock down.

The fresh grated lemon zest and the juice balance out the asparagus. 

Recipe:

500 g white asparagus, 1 lemon, 1 shallot

250 ml asparagus stock, 1 tsp veg stock paste, 2 tbsp cream cheese, 

1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 100 ml double cream

Lemon salt, pepper, chives 

Melt the butter and toss in peeled and cut up asparagus and chopped shallot. Give it 3 min to get coated in the butter. Sprinkle the cornstarch over it. Stir and add the stock and paste. Zest the lemon and press in the juice.

Cook for 10 min or until asparagus is soft. During this time cook the rice.

Add cream and cream cheese and check the seasoning. Finish with chives and serve on rice.