Un brunch particolare

Some time ago I made a really nice brunch for Lucas and myself, using a recipe that I found on my favorite 'San Francisco flavors' cookbook. I never had time to post about it, and this is now the perfect occasion, as it sports the fruit chosen for this month 'A fruit a month' event: papaya!
To be really honest, I don't usually like papaya too much. This is strange, because I like almost anything. Papaya has a strange aftertaste that somewhat bothers me, when I eat it raw: after the sweet feeling, there is something that remains in my mouth and reminds me of fermentation and, somehow, cheese. I know it's just a weird idea that I have, but I cannot it too much of it raw. But, in this particular dish I'm showing, I really liked it. Maybe because the person who thought about it somehow read my mind and decided to accentuate this 'aftertaste' by just combining it with.. brie! So, here I present to you...

Quesadilla con brie e papaya / Papaya and brie quesadilla
(Recipe adapted from 'San Francisco flavors' - originally, the quesadillas are baked, and more fats are used).

Prepare the filling by mixing one papaya, peeled and diced, one onion, thinly sliced, the juice of two limes, 1 jalapeno chilli, minced, and 1/2 bunch cilantro. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a separate bowl. Lightly butter (with a separate piece of butter) an anti-sticking pan, and place it on the stove on moderate heat. Place a large tortilla on it, and add some of the papaya mix on half of it. Add a few pieces of brie (you choose how much). Close the other half on top, and brush with some of the melted butter. After ~5 min, flip the quesadilla paying attention not to pour the filling everywhere in the pan. Brush more butter on top of the quesadilla, and cook for a few more minutes, till the brie is melted. Repeat till all the filling is finished. I used only half of it, it was enough for a brunch for two. The quesadillas should be eaten hot.. They can also be used as appetizers, if you cut them in wedges before serving. I made them a few times, as they are really quick to prepare and delicious, and unusual too!

Brunch del primo dell'anno

I realize it's a bit late, but I still wanted to share something really nice about the beginning of the new year. Our new year started in a very relaxed way. After a nice dinner with dear friends in San Francisco, Lucas and I went back home, because everyone else had different plans. We watched a (silly) movie together, and then cheered at the new year, with some champaign and a wine tart that I had prepared for the occasion (thanks, Mrs. W, for suggesting the recipe!). A very intimate and nice beginning of the year, which was followed by another very nice first of the year morning. In fact, I thought it would be nice to have some brunch, and the idea of making it together sounded much better than going out, and having to wait in line in a most likely busy place. So, I found a recipe for some cornmeal savory pancakes, which sounded delicious. And even in the recipe, it was suggested to serve them with a glass of sparkling wine. So, what could be best for a first of the year brunch? We really enjoyed it. Here is the recipe, which you may use for any other special brunch occasion... and happy new year again to everybody!!
Pancakes di granoturco con caprino e salsa ai peperoni / Cornmeal Pancakes with Chevre and Red Pepper Sauce
The recipe for this comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, 'San Francisco Flavors'.
Ingredients for four people (half the doses for an intimate brunch :)
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/4 c up buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, cut
3 tbsp canola oil (we used a total of 1.5 tbsp butter)
2 red bell peppers (I used green ones)
1 cup creme fraiche (I used sour cream)
goat cheese (I used brie)
1 cup fresh corn kernels (I did not have this, so I didn't add it)
Procedure
To make the batter, mix cornmeal, baking soda and salt, then add egg, buttermilk, cilantro, 1 tbsp canola oil (or melted butter, like in our case). Let stand for five minutes, then cook on a pan like regular pancakes (spread a little bit of butter or canola oil to grease the pan, then pour a ladle of batter, cook for ~3 minutes, flip, cook on the other side for ~2 minutes and you're done). To make the sauce, chop 1 and 1/2 peppers, cook over low heat for 3 min, then add the creme fraiche, add some sault and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes. Place pancakes on serving plates and add a slice of cheese on them, bake at ~200F for a few minutes, just enough to melt the cheese. Decorate with slices of the rest of the peppers, parsley (or cilantro, like I did), corn (if you're using it), and serve with the pepper sauce and some fruit compote. Wine suggested: Blanc de Noir, sparkling.

These pancakes were delicious. I already mentioned a few of the modifications I did - those were because of lack of the ingredients requested, given the lack of planning. If I did this again, I'd cook the sauce for a shorter time - 10 minutes dried it up a bit too much. I served it with champaign and some of my homemade cranberry jam. We really enjoyed both making this and eating it!!

Marmellata di fragole e uva

As I already said in the previous posts, there are two events centered on grapes this month, so I'm experimenting various recipes hoping I can get two that are good enough.
This jam I made a few weeks ago was really good, so I'm going to present this for the 'A fruit a month' event hosted by Swapna at Swad this month!
Here in California the season of strawberry lasts forever. During the whole summer we've had amazingly good strawberries for really cheap. So when the season of grapes arrived, it overlapped with the strawberries! That's why I decided to try to make this jam.

Marmellata di fragole e uva rossa / Strawberry and red grapes preserve
It was really easy: just clean and cut ~2 lb ripe strawberries, place them in a pan and add ~4-6 tbsp sugar and ~1 lb red seedless grapes. Squeeze the juice of one lime in it. Cook for ~ 1h, covered. You don't need to add any water. After one hour, blend everything with an immersion blender. Cook for another ~30 min, uncovered, or until it gets to a nice spreadable consistency. It's absolutely delicious.
In the picture above, it's served on a spelt/tapioca bread that I baked with a recipe that I made up (I can post it if someone is interested, it was a really good bread). But it goes wonderfully well also with pancakes, such as in the example below:
I'll give you the complimentary recipe of the pancakes, as they were particularly good. It's taken from one of the books I like the best, 'San Francisco Flavors', by the Junior League of San Francisco.

Pancakes con mele e ricotta / Fuji Apple and Ricotta Pancakes
Combine 1 cup ricotta, 2 Fuji apples, grated, 3/4 cup flour, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp chopped almonds, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 4 egg yolks, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate (I used fresh lemonade). On a side, beat 4 egg whites till stiff, and then fold them in the previous mixture. Melt a little bit of butter on a pan, pour ~1/4 cup of mixture when the pan is hot, and cook until the pancake becomes dry near edges and bubbles form all over the surface. Flip and cook for another minute or so. Do so for all the mixture, and serve the pancakes hot, with maple syrup or preserve such as the delicious strawberry-grapes described above!!

I hope I'll have time to make another good grape-centered recipe for my own event 'Fresh Produce of the Month'.. there's still some time before the deadline (Oct. 15th) - so if you also have cravings for grapes this month, please share your delicious ideas with us!