Apple strudel (vegan)

This is the one I made recently, with the supermarket puff pastry

 From what I managed to find out on the internet the original apple strudel is vegan, that's why I have it in brackets. This isn't a simplified version which lacks something or has it substituted, this is the real deal.
 Even though it's one of my favorite desserts and my go to hostess gift for dinner parties (and not only) this is the first time I did everything by myself. I would usually buy the puff pastry, reducing working time on 10 minutes. I thought it was about time to take a plunge and get my hands dirty.

Ingredients:

Dough:
-200 g all-purpose flour
-pinch of salt
-1 teaspoon white vinegar
-approx 1/2 cup lukewarm water

Filling:
-3 apples (2 or 4 would work as well)
-2 tablespoons raisins (soaked in the rum and lukewarm water)
-1 tablespoon pine nuts (toasted)
-2 tablespoons demerara sugar (or any other)
-cinnamon (as much as you like, I think it's never enough)
-juice of half lemon
-breadcrumbs if you like, I skipped this

 Mix the flour in a bowl with with salt and vinegar, add some water and start working it. Add more water gradually as you need it, you'll figure out how much water you need, the dough shouldn't be too sticky. Form a ball and leave it covered on the room temperature for half an hour.

 Cut the apples (I peeled them as well) into small pieces, add lemon juice, raisins, pine nuts (I chopped them up a bit), sugar and cinnamon.

 Roll out the dough on a floured working surface, as thin as you can, into a rectangular shape. Spread your filling over the dough and fold the dough. Close the end like an envelope.

Oven for 40 minutes on 180°C.

Sprinkle with icing sugar.

My strudel turned out a bit pale, so I might have put the oven on 200°C as well, will try that the next time.

On vegan diet

 Almost two months ago I've decided it was time for me to give a go to the animal friendly diet (it wasn't my new year's resolution, it just happened like that). I decided I would try it for a month, just to see how it is.
 A month has passed yet I haven't gotten back to my old eating habits. I'm doing this the adjusted way, my way, but it still feels great! I don't know how long I will stick with it, I'm not giving any promises, but I'm certain I will always have the compassion in me.

 I have found it very hard to survive on a vegan diet in Italy. I don't want to use it as an excuse, but it really is, trust me! It works perfectly when eating at home, the problem is eating out and at other people's houses. A plant-based diet seems like something so hard to understand, and the few who get it seems they don't accept it. You can't even have a non dairy cappuccino for breakfast!

 At the beginning I was feeling tired and grumpy, but then I got some vitamin B complex supplements which helped a lot. (B12 can be found naturally only in foods from animal sources so supplement is needed.)

 I have put on some weight which might seem weird because people usually go down, but I have been eating way more white carbs than I did before. I still have to work on that even if I did not do this to lose weight.
I think this is psychological, I feel like I'm substituting animal products... I will figure it out eventually.

Here are the pictures of what I have been eating:

 On more than one occasion I was in a situation where I felt uncomfortable refusing food that I "wasn't" supposed to have, so I ate it. If I want to be honest, most of these times I really wanted it.
At my friend's place for a dinner; a friend I haven't seen in ages bringing Laduree macarons for a desert at my place; a friend of mine coming by my place at a late hour with 1 kilo of my favorite ice cream; my (by now) ex flatmate making a Bavarian breakfast just for me (it was an old promise and she had all the ingredients flown in from Germany); my best friend's traditional sushi birthday dinner (and this year it was even a goodbye dinner); my Argentinian friend bringing me traditional cookies from home...

Rose petals macaron; rose petals- white chocolate, pistachio and coffee- almond ice cream; mochi ice cream

Alfajores and mate, Argentinian traditional cookie and drink; Bavarian breakfast; more ice cream

 As you can see I haven't been very strict and for now this is how I will do it. I will cook vegan and tend to buy as many vegan products as I can, but for all the rest, eating out, at other peoples' places etc I will be flexible. This is my way.

 I am well aware vegan is a lifestyle and not a diet, but I'm not there yet. I'm not ready to completely change my lifestyle and I'm not sure I'm even going there, but for now this is where I stand!

If anyone has any advices, especially on the supplements, please fill me in!

Limoncello

 Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur traditionally served ice-cold as an after-dinner digestive. The ingredients are quite simple; lemon zest, alcohol, sugar and water.
 It is important to use organic lemons because the pesticides remain in the skin and that is the only part we use for this recipe.
 Pure alcohol would be the best choice to extract lemon flavors better, even though you can use any other type of alcohol. If you use vodka or some other spirit the taste will be a bit different because it already has a flavor and because they are too high in water to infuse the flavors properly.

Ingredients:
- 8-10 organic lemons
- 1 liter alcohol (95%)
- 1,3 liter water
- 650 grams sugar

1. Rinse and dry the lemons.
2. Peel the lemons with a sharp knife, being careful to use only the yellow part of the peel, as the white part would make it bitter (you don't want that). Tip: squeeze the peeled lemons and freeze the juice.
3. Place the lemon zest and the alcohol in an air tight glass container.
4. Leave it in a cool dark place for a month, or at least 10 days.
5. Shake the jar every now and then to distribute the lemon oil through the alcohol.
6. Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. (it doesn't have to boil)
7. Strain the alcohol and lemon peel mixture through a sieve into the sugar syrup.
8. Transfer the limoncello to bottles and leave for at least a week before tasting it.

Not a good technique, skip the white part, you don't need it

For me it worked best with a knife

Protect your eyes, you are dealing with pure alcohol here.

Squeeze the lemons.

Freeze the juice to have it on hand.

After 3 weeks in a dark spot

Sugar syrup

I sprayed juice bottles caps because I wanted them neutral, no brand

 For every 100 ml of water you should put 60 g of sugar. You can decide how strong you want your liqueur to be, it depends on the quantity of water. The formula is quite simple,  % alcohol / liquids quantity (water + alcohol).
 My limoncello is 95% / 2,3 liters = 41,3 % alcohol. Approximately it is 40% because some alcohol probably remained in the zest. If you want it to be less strong, just put more water, or if you have 40% alcohol (vodka), put less water.
 Limoncello seems to mellow as it ages, the longer you keep it, the better it gets.

Cheers!

Candied orange peel

 This sweet snack is perfect with an afternoon cup of tea, with a bitter liqueur after dinner or pretty much with anything anytime. Put in decorative glass jars tied with holiday ribbon it makes a very nice hostess gift for the upcoming holiday season. You can also store them in a candy jar on the table to treat your guests.

The process is pretty simple but it takes 5-7 days (depends on the thickness of the orange peel), so make sure you start in time. The recipe I am using is very old, there are some quicker versions that allow you to do everything in a day, but if you start early, this one requires less work and I think it comes out better (I have never done it any other way though. I might try it next time).

What you'll need:
- 8 organic oranges (not treated with pesticides because the chemicals remain in the peel)
- 500 g sugar (for 500 g peel)
- 250 ml water

1. Score the orange vertically into 6 pieces (cutting through the peel and not into the flesh of the fruit).
2. Peel the skin and white pith off of the oranges in large pieces.
3. Slice the peels into long strips approximately 0,5 cm thick.
4. Put the peels into a bowl and cover with cold water. Leave it there for 3-7 days (the thicker they are, the longer they stay) and change water twice a day (you should change it because it might go bad). We do this to remove the bitterness from the peels.
(Parts of my peels were soaked for 3, 5 and 7 days. I did it separately because I couldn't eat all the oranges in a day.)
5. Drain well the orange peels and weigh them (use the same amount of sugar or a bit less).
6. Cook the peels with water over a medium heat until slightly tender (about 15 mins), uncovered.
7. Add sugar to the pan, reduce the heat to low and stir gently time to time.
8. Simmer until the syrup is quite thick (about 30 mins).
9. Set a few baking sheets, remove peels from syrup and roll in sugar, separating strips.
10. Let dry for 2 days.

 

Farmers market

 After a few weeks of grey, rainy days the sun came back to Milan. I've been enjoying these last days of nice weather because once it's gone we won't be seeing it here that soon. I'm so not ready to embrace fog and humidity yet!

 I love going to the farmers market, seeing so many natural colors in one place, in so many shapes and sizes inspires me and fills me with positive energy. Close to where I live there is a market on Saturday morning, they block the traffic in two perpendicular streets, take the stands out and the games begin!

Variety of flavors

Dough products, mostly from the south

Cheese and salami stand

Mushrooms, asparagus

One more reason to look forward to the weekend!