Pages

Sunday

"Mum's out"


Or how much mess can I make in the kitchen on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Incidentally the phrase "mum's out" refers to the long lost days of young childhood when mum nipped out to the shops and I would play at cooking in the kitchen I roped my brother in to be look out to warn when she was coming back down the drive at which point I would try and minimise the chaos before beating a hasty retreat as she walked through the door. 
Now in adulthood the phrase has come to mean any cooking which reaches into the realms of the totally unknown, with the added excitment of potential and imminent disaster.
Today after work in the garden was rained off I decided to makeTaralli with fennel seeds.  The are little salty biscuits from Southern Italy, which first you boil then you bake! Great fun.
This is how...
Mix together 250g plain white flour, sml tsp salt, same of fennel seeds, 50ml white wine, 50ml olive oil, 50ml water.  Either knead by hand or in bread maker, adding a little more water if necessary to make a smooth, elastic but firm dough.  Then tear off little pieces about 10-12g each, roll into ropes 10cm long and twist and form a ring pinching the ends to secure.  Drop about 10 pieces at once into a pot of boiling water, as they rise to the surface fish them out with a slotted spoon and let them dry on  kitchen paper.  Then bake in a hot oven 210° C for 30 mins.  The are glossy and crispy, but chewy in the middle, excellent with a glass of white wine.