Rachel Roddy successful blog.

Sicily and Rome: two journeys, two kitchens - FT.com
Food writer Rachel Roddy grew up in a town outside London, one of three, and trained as an actress before moving to Italy in 2005, from where she now writes her hugely successful blog racheleats.wordpress.com.
Roddy lives in Rome with her partner and son, Luca.
What prompted the move to Italy?
As an actress I worked, and then I didn’t work, at which point I became a waitress who preferred helping out in the kitchen rather than ferrying plates. Then I worked as an actress again, finally getting sort of jobs I had always wanted, but by then I realised acting wasn’t what I wanted to do. I had an idea I wanted to write, but nothing certain. I had some money saved so decided, impulsively, to travel. Naples was the starting point from where I traveled down to Sicily and then up to Rome, where I intended to stay for a short time before moving further southwards again.

Do as the Romans do: the secrets behind Italian cooking - Telegraph
Here she shares tips and recipes from her first book, Five Quarters.
Rachel's Roman dishes:
- Broad beans and pecorini recipe
- Pasta and potato soup recipe
- Courgettes cooked in olive oil recipe
- Spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and chilli recipe
- Classic Italian meatballs in tomato sauce recipe
- Baked peaches with butter and almonds recipe

Minestrone Soup.

Fun fact: There's actually no standard recipe for the ever-popular minestrone soup.
It's just a hearty Italian soup full of season vegetables.
Use this as a guideline.
You'll want to include the basics (onion, carrot, celery, canned tomatoes, stock, garlic, and herbs), but beyond that this soup is a blank canvas.
Try adding pasta, greens, corn, different beans, potatoes, or pre-cooked sausage.
Add wine, if desired, and cook until it's almost entirely reduced.

In Italian to denote largeness you add –one/-ona/-oni to the end of the word:
- minestra - a soup, becomes minestrone - big soup.
...It is cooked very slowly over a low heat...a stir every now and then.
The ingredients enter the pot one by one, as each one joins the previous one in the pan it is given an attentive and gentle 5 minute sautè before the next ingredient is added.

My version:
- cut everything - small cubes!
1 onion (I prefer red) onions, chopped
1/2 leek, white part only, washed and finely chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small *courgette/zucchini, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 can of 400g white beans (cannellini or navy), drained
1/2 can of 400g Chopped Tomatoes
2 tbs orzo (better separately boil)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried sage
2 bay leaves
Salt and ground black pepper
herbs, chilli - optional
1 liter vegetable or chicken stock


Directions

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.
Add onion, leek, celery, carrot, zucchini, and garlic, season with salt and pepper.
Stir to coat with oil and cook until tender, about 8 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes, orzo, herbs and stock.
Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, adding cannellini beans in last 10 minutes of cooking.
Taste and season with salt and pepper, as desired.
... if you find the soup is looking too thick before it has finished cooking add a little more water.
Soup will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer.

*courgette/zucchini - Seasonal vegetables of your choice (at the moment, 1 courgette, diced, handful of fresh peas or broad beans, half a head of fennel, diced, 3 large leaves of cavolo nero, shredded)

Adapted from: How to cook perfect minestrone soup | Life and style | The Guardian

A Complete Guide to Pork Chops and How To Cook Juicy Pork Chops.

How To Cook Tender, Juicy Pork Chops Every Time | The Kitchn:
- A Complete Guide to Pork Chops — Meat Basics | The Kitchn:
Pork Chops.

Makes 2 to 4 pork chops
What You Need
Ingredients

For the brine (optional):
3 cups cold water, divided
3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 2 1/2 tablespoons table salt)
Optional flavorings: 2 smashed garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf

For the pork chops:
2 to 4 pork chops — center cut, bone-on, 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick (about 1 pound each) Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Equipment
Shallow dish (for brining)
Large cast iron, stainless steel, or other oven-safe skillet
Tongs

Instructions
Brine the pork chops (optional): If you have time, brining the pork for even a brief period adds flavor and ensures juiciness in the finished chop.
Bring 1 cup of the water to a boil, add the salt and optional flavorings, and stir to dissolve the salt.
Add 2 more cups of cold water to bring the temperature of the brine down to room temperature.
Place the pork chops in a shallow dish and pour the brine over top.
The brine should cover the chops — if not, add additional water and salt (1 cup water to 1 tablespoon salt) until the chops are submerged.
Cover the dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

Heat the oven and skillet:
- Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 204°C.
- Place the skillet in the oven to preheat as well.

Season the pork chops: While the oven heats, prepare the pork chops.
Remove the chops from the brine; if you didn't brine, remove the chops from their packaging.
Pat dry with paper towels.
Rub both sides with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Set the chops aside to warm while the oven finishes heating.

Remove the skillet from the oven:
Using oven mitts, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and set it over medium-high heat on the stovetop.
Turn on a vent fan or open a window.

Sear the pork chops:
Lay the pork chops in the hot skillet.
You should hear them immediately begin to sizzle.
Sear until the undersides of the chops are seared golden, 3 minutes.
The chops may start to smoke a little — that's ok.
Turn down the heat if it becomes excessive.

Flip the chops and transfer to the oven:
Use tongs to flip the pork chops to the other side.
Immediately transfer the skillet to the oven using oven mitts.

Roast the chops until cooked through:
Roast until the pork chops are cooked through and register 60°C to 62°C in the thickest part of the meat with an instant-read thermometer.
Cooking time will be 6 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the chops, how cool they were at the start of cooking, and whether they were brined.
Start checking the chops at 6 minutes and continue checking every minute or two until the chops are cooked through.

Rest the chops:
Transfer the cooked pork chops to a plate and pour any pan juices over the top (or reserve for making a pan sauce or gravy).
Tent loosely with foil and let the chops rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

AND:
- The Best Slow-Cooked Meat Recipes | sheerluxe.com: The Best Slow-Cooked Meat Recipes!
'via Blog this'

Recipes and food.

Recipes and food - search through 190,000 recipes at myTaste.co.uk

Easy Pie Dough.

Easy Pie Dough | Serious Eats

Apples!

- Baked Apples Filled with Apricots and Figs | Williams-Sonoma
- Potato and Apple Galette | Williams-Sonoma
- Apple Pie | Williams-Sonoma
- Apple Pancakes | Williams-Sonoma
- Carrot and Apple Juice with Ginger | Williams-Sonoma

My Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet.

- Preheat oven to 200°C.

For start:
200 g Butter
3/4 cups Sugar
4 - 5 Granny Smith Apples (What's your favorite type of apple?), peeled, cored and cut into six equal pieces

In a 22-25cm skillet, melt 200 g butter over low heat.
Add 3/4 cup sugar to the pan and stir around, then place apple slices, cut side down, in the pan.
Don’t pack them too tightly, but try not to leave overly large gaps.
Allow this to cook over low/medium-low heat while you make the dough.

For the dough:

- 70 g flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt

- 2 eggs
- 50 g of sugar
- 20 g butter, melted
- 100 ml milk
- 1 tbsp vanilla

- 1 Apple peeled, cored and cut into small equal cubes - Chop up!

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture foams and turn pale.
Then add the melted butter, milk and vanilla aroma.
Whisk again.
Add flour mixture gradually while continuing to beat.
Gently stir in 1 chopped apple (Apple that are cut into small cubes!).
Fold all together till the chopped apple are all incorporated.

Remove skillet from heat.

Spoon dough over the top, then spread gently so dough is evenly distributed.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and bubbly.
Allow cake to sit in skillet for five minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.
Don’t worry if some of the topping isn’t perfect - it’ll taste perfect!
This cake can be eaten warm, but it's even better cold, or the next day ...

The Apple Pancake.

Recipe: The Apple Pancake — Weekend Breakfast Recipes from The Kitchn | The Kitchn
Weekend Apple Pancake

Serves 3 to 4

2 large apples (or 3 medium apples), preferably tart ones like Granny Smith
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup whole or 2% milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs
Powdered or cinnamon sugar, to serve

Heat the oven to 200°C.
Peel, core, and quarter the apples, then cut them into medium slices (1/4-inch thick or less).
Then cut the slices in halves or thirds.
You should have about 3 cups of chopped apples.

In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon and ginger and set aside.

Cut the butter into chunks and place them in a deep cast iron skillet or 8x8-inch baking dish.
Put the skillet or baking dish in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the butter is melted.
Take the pan out of the oven and sprinkle the 1/3 cup brown sugar over the melted butter.
Carefully spread the apples on top of the brown sugar and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the apples.
Put the pan back in the oven to caramelize the apples and sugar.

Whisk the flour with the remaining tablespoon of sugar, salt, and nutmeg.
Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly with a large wire whisk to beat out any lumps.
When the flour is smoothly incorporated into the milk, beat in the vanilla and the eggs, one by one.
Beat by hand for 2 minutes, or until foamy.
Let the batter rest for 5 minutes.
By now the sugar should be bubbling around the apples.

Take the pan out of the oven and pour the batter over the apples.
Bake for about 20 more minutes, or until center is set and sides are lightly browned.
The pancake will puff up dramatically but fall after a few minutes after you take it out of the oven.

If you want, serve with powdered sugar or more cinnamon sugar; I usually find that it is just sweet enough as it is.

Similar recipe:
- German Apple Pancake | Serious Eats
- German Apple Pancake | Williams-Sonoma
- Apple Oven Pancake | Williams-Sonoma

Apples & Pears cake. Gâteau Invisible Pommes & Poires.

Gâteau (cake - fr.) Invisible Pommes & Poires - Eryn et sa folle cuisine:
Published on 7 Jan 2015.

For 4 - 6 parts:
I used a Pyrex dish 20 x 20 cm.
Consider using tasty fruit, although sweet, especially pears.
Can be used Comice or Pass Crassane.
For a large pan or large baking dish, do not hesitate to double the proportions.
- 3 large apples (or 4 small) - Golden 

- 3 large pears (or 4 small) - Pass Crassane
- 2 eggs
- 100 ml milk 

- 70 g flour 

- 50 g of sugar 

- 20 g butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 pinch of salt

- Preheat oven to 200°C.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture foams and turn pale.
Then add the melted butter, milk and vanilla aroma.
Whisk again. Add flour mixture gradually while continuing to beat.

- Divide the dough obtained amount of more or less equal in two different bowls.

Peel, remove the core and seed the apples.
Cut them in half and slice very thinly with a mandolin.
As in, throw in one of the bowls, stirring to moisten the dough.
Do the same for pears in the other bowl.

- Butter and flour a 20 cm square pan.

First pour the contents of the bowl with apples, smooth.
Pour over the contents of the bowl with pears. Smooth again.
Bake for 35 minutes at 200°C.
Let cool in the pan before sprinkle with icing sugar and cut into rectangles.
This cake can be eaten warm, but it's even better cold, or the next day ...

'via Blog this'

Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet.

Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet | The Pioneer Woman
8 Servings

Ingredients
200 g Butter
3/4 cups Sugar
4 whole To 5 Whole Granny Smith Apples, Peeled, Cored, And Cut Into Six Equal Pieces

For the cake:
1 stick Butter
2/3 cups Sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
2 whole Large Eggs
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 whole Small Granny Smith Apple, Peeled, Cored, And Chopped Finely
Instructions
Preheat oven to 190C.

In a 22-25cm skillet, melt 200 g butter over low heat.
Add 3/4 cup sugar to the pan and stir around, then place apple slices, cut side down, in the pan.
Don’t pack them too tightly, but try not to leave overly large gaps.
Allow this to cook over low/medium-low heat while you make the cake batter.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Stir together then gradually add flour mixture into the creamed mixture until just combined.
Gently stir in 1 chopped apple.

Remove skillet from heat.
Spoon batter over the top, then spread gently so batter is evenly distributed.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and bubbly.
Allow cake to sit in skillet for five minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.
Don’t worry if some of the topping isn’t perfect - it’ll taste perfect!

more:
- Dutch Apple Pie - Amy Chaplin
- Skillet Apple Pie - Rebecca Crump.