Zahtar

Questo è un post dedicato a due persone, come lo sono questi crostini.
Per primo a Babs (vi ho mai detto che è una grande? ci siete andati avedere il suo nuovo sito? noo? allora correte!) che mi ha fatto scoprire l'amore per lo yogurt greco, il Fage nella precisione.
Da quando la conosco l'ho messo nei muffin, nei cake dolci e salati, ci ho fatto coppette di frutta scenografiche e leggere, l'ho mangiato a cucchiaiate a colazione con un po' di miele... insomma, sono diventata Fage-dipendente.
Babs è una cara amica "virtuale", grazie all'incontro di passioni e interessi nel mondo dei blog abbiamo approfondito la nostra conoscenza e scoperto di essere gemelle separate alla nascita! E' una sorella più grande a cui chiedere consigli, da cosa fare per pranzo la domenica a come trovare il coraggio per seguire un sogno.
La seconda persona a cui dedico il post è Ilaria, una lettrice silente, una mia ex collega di lavoro che poi è diventata un'amica e una confidente! Lei si considera la mia "mamma adottiva", anche se ha pochissimi anni più di me e io sono il suo doppio, in lunghezza e larghezza.
Ilaria mi ha fatto scoprire la passione per le spezie, per la cucina indiana (la prima volta al ristorante indiano Ashoka di Firenze mi ci ha portata lei) e medio-orientale, per i lunghissimi aperitivi in terrazza da lei perse con lo sguardo nella campagna sotto San Gimignano con Diego che ci guarda torvo (Diego è il gatto!). Anche lei condivide le mie stesse passioni - o io le sue? - e in questo blog c'è anche un po' di lei.

Perché questo preambolo? volevo spiegare l'origine di questi crostini: la ricetta è di Ilaria, sono fatti con il fage (vedi Babs) e lo zahtar, che mi ha regalato sempre Ilaria.
Ah! Le foto la ha fatte Claudia.. io che ho fatto, vi direte? io li ho mangiati!

::::: CROSTINI CON YOGURT GRECO E ZAHTAR :::::

Prima precisiamo che lo zahtar (dall'Arabo زعتر Za'atar e dall'Armeno զահթար in ebraico זעתר) è una miscela di spezie originaria del medio oriente. Il termine arabo za'atar si riferisce ad alcune piante locali della famiglia delle Lamiaceae, tra le quali maggiorana, origano e timo. E' una mistura di spezie tradizionalmente composta da timo, sesamo e sale. Ma può anche includere origano, cumino, semi di finocchio, santoreggia, maggiorana, sommacco, issopo. Come per molte miscele orientali di spezie ogni famiglia ha la ricetta. Per sapere ancora qualcosa, come sempre, guarda qui.


Ingredienti per tanti crostini:

• pane, 1 frusta (di quello lungo e rotondo, tipo baguette)
• yogurt greco, 1 confezione
• olio extravergine di oliva
• zahtar
• sale

La preparazione è semplicissima. Affetta il pane e disponilo su un vassoio.
Nella stessa confezione dello yogurt, aggiungi un pizzico di sale e un cucchiaio d'olio, mescola bene con una forchetta e poi spalma generosamente sul pane.
In una tazzina mescola uno o due cucchiai di zahtar con abbondante olio extravergine di oliva (deve essere buono, perché poi caratterizzerà molto il sapore) e versa qualche goccia del composto su ogni crostino. L'antipasto fresco, leggero ed estivo, è pronto!

::::: CROSTINI WITH GREEK YOGURT AND ZAHTAR :::::

This is a dedicated post, as these crostini.
First, to Babs (have I ever told you she's great? have you seen her web site? not yet? com'on! what are you waiting for?) who made me discover a real love for greek yoghurt, Fage to be pricise. Since I've met her, I use Greek yoghurt in muffins, in sweet and savory cakes, I've made delicious but light desserts with fresh fruits and greek yoghurt, I have eaten it for breakfast with just a dollop of honey...
Babs is a "virtual friend": talking and chatting and writing we have discovered do be potential twins! She is an elder sister, someone you can always bother to have advices on your Sunday lunch or on the way to finf courage to follow your dreams.
The second person I want to dedicate this post is Ilaria, a silent reader, a former colleague and now friend and confidante. She sees herself as my "adoptive mother" even if she is a very few years older than me and I double her in lenght and width.
She made me discover the love for spices and herbs, for Indian dishes (she took me for the first time to the indian restaurant in Florence) and Middle East dishes, for long happy hours on her terrace lost in the Tuscan countryside, with Diego staring grim at us (Diego is the cat!).

Why this preface? I wanted to show you the origins of these appetizers: Ilaria's recipe, Babs' greek yoghurt and then zahtar, a gift from Ilaria.
Ah! I was forgetting! Claudia - my beloved sister - has taken these pictures... and I? what have I done? I've eaten them!

First of all I want to explain that Za'atar also spelled satar, zahatar or zatr, is a mixture of herbs and spices used as a condimenti with Middle Eastern and Levantine origins.
The name of the condiment shares the Arabic name of the herb used as the main ingredient
Za'atar is generally prepared using ground dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, or some combination thereof, mixed with toasted sesame seeds, and salt. Some varieties may add savory, cumin, coriander or fennel seed. A Lebanese variety of Za'atar usually contains sumac berries, and has a distinct dark red color. For further informations have a look here.


Ingredients for many crostini (small slices of bread):

• bread, 1 piece like a baguette
• greek yoghurt greco, 1 package of 150 gr
  
• extra virgin olive oil
  
• zahtar
• salt

It's easier to make than to tell.
Slice bread and put the round slices in a large dish.
Add a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the greek yoghurt and stir throughly with a fork.
Spread generously this yoghurt cream on every bread slice.
In a cup, mix one or two tablespoons of zahtar with plenty of extra virgin olive oil: you should choose a very good olive oil, because its flavour will stress the general taste of the dish.
Pour some drops of zahtar oil on every slice of bread.
Here you have a fresh, light and summer appetizer!

La cucina di nonna Menna: i crostini neri

Oggi è il gran giorno! Su Made in Kitchen esce la mia rubrica dedicata alla cucina toscana. Vi rimando qui, quindi, per il primo piatto scelto, i crostini neri! Qui vi lascio la versione in inglese.



Tuscany is bread without salt, is a good extravirgin olive oil, is a meat grill with friends, roasted chicken with potatoes and wild fennel, is cacciucco (a fish soup) on the seaside, Siena panforte and Florence schiacciata, is rosmary and sage... Tuscany, for me, is Granny Menna's Cooking.
Granny Menna is how I called my grandmother Marcella as a child.
Granny picks up wild herbs to make salad; as soon as mushrooms come out she runs into to wood to find them: here it is her biggest passion.
Granny belives to be an Etruscan woman, with her roots firmly planted in her country.
Granny knows how things are supposed to be done, because that is the way they're written in Pellegrino Artusi cook book. Aunt Pasquina gifted granny with this book when she got married: now it is yellowed with age, with some pages missing and old pictures as bookmarks.
Granny loves cooking and trying new recipes, but don't tell her she's good in cooking because she will shield herself saying that nothing comes as it should be when she cooks!
And yet, thanks to her delicious lunches, made for me when I came back home from school, now I am what I am, not skinny and thin, but curious about new flavours and willing to try new things.
Yes, then there is me... keen on oriental cooking, british lover, fond of spices and far away flavours. But it's time to give a chance to my tuscan cooking, trying to understand better those recipes that made me what I am, with the help of Granny and old uncle Pellegrino Artusi, a lively old man who will speak through the pages of an ancient book. So, let's start with thew firts recipe.

::::: CROSTINI NERI - CHICKEN LIVERS CROSTINI :::::

These are the appetizers that should be done for great occasions and holidays.
When granny was a child, these crostini were made during threshing days, when the farmyard was crowded with people, men were working in the fields and women were cooking for them.
Since I was born, these crostini have always been present for christenings, weddings, birthdays and Christmas days. This is the reason I have chose to start with appetizers - principii, according to old Pellegrino Artusi.
This is the way granny and mum make crostini neri, in a simple way. The smell of butter mingled with livers smell reminds me of early Christmas mornings. It cuddles you and brings you in the middle of Tuscan countryside.
Once you have made it, you should resist the temptation to eat spoonfuls of it! It is delicious spread on a toasted slice of tuscan bread: you can soak the slices of bread with chicken broth (as my Aunt Silvana does), butter them (as granny does) or use them as they are (as my mum does)... the point is to use the patè still hot and steaming.


Ingredients:

• chicken livers, 400 gr
• red onion, 1/2
• carrot, 1/2
• celery, 1/2 stalk
• capers, 3 tablespoons
• leek, 1/2, just the white part
• sage, 5 leaves
• rosemary, 1 spring
• bay leaves, 1
• butter, 50 gr
• water, 50 cl
• anchovy paste
• salt

Directions:
Rinse chicken livers and put them in a saucepan with the other ingredients (onion, carrot, celery, cappers, leek, sage, rosmary, bay leave, butter), coarsely chopped.
Don't forget to use a red onion, not white.
Why granny? Because with dark things you should use a red onion!


Season livers with salt: use a very tiny pinch of salt, because the tastiness is due to anchovy paste, that you are going to add at the very end.
Stir frequently and let cook for about 35 minutes, adding once in a while some tablespoon of water: livers should remain soft and wet. When livers are done, put all the ingredients in a food processor or use a mill to have a patè.
This sauce is good when it remains rough, not too velvety: it should keep its rustic caracter! At the very end, add little by little some anchovy paste and whip with some butter, tasting each time to find the right tastiness.
You can made it the previuos day: when it's time to serve it, heat the sauce, adding some butter or chicken broth.