Dear Parishioner readers: This new column will bring you different recipes from all the Grandmothers, La Nona, Die Oma, La Abuela, La Grand-mère, in the world. In this first edition I share my Nona’s Panettone recipe. A beautiful Italian woman who emigrated to Argentina when she was young. I had the pleasure to enjoy every Sunday at her home, cooking or eating all kind of fresh pasta, sauces and sweets Italians pastries… all day long. In every Italian family you reunite every Sunday at lunch time and chat and eat until dinner with no less than 14 family members or closer friends. I grew up with this feeling of “belonging” that a family/friends gives you, where you are always welcome. And as all the Italian families sing in Argentina: Lo primero es la familia! Family comes first!
A very special friend died in March after a battle with cancer that had lasted about 5 years. She and her husband moved down to Cornwall about 10 years ago but we had continued to visit them regularly. I am sad that our visits to Cornwall will now only elicit fond memories; but what other things help us to remember those we have loved and lost? The two of us used to bond in friendship in the kitchen cooking and chatting together. This recipe that she shared has been a mainstay for me with our boys and often for friends who have visited, and it will forever be linked with my dear friend, Fenella.
Melted Oat Cookies
Þ 4oz Self Raising Flour
Þ 4oz Rolled/porridge oats
Þ ½ level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Þ 4oz margarine
Þ 4oz granulated sugar
Þ 1 rounded tablespoon golden syrup
Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside. Gently melt the margarine (or butter if you’re feeling decadent), sugar, and syrup together. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour mix. Beat well.
Form rounded balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly and cook for 15 minutes at Gas Mark 4, 180C. Cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
This is such a versatile cookie. You can use the standard recipe as a base and make many alternatives…for example:
Chocolate chip cookies: make the oat mix and cool for 15 minutes, add 2oz of chocolate chips and complete as above.
Or how about:
Chocolate crisps: make the oatie mix and sprinkle the flatten balls with caster sugar. Bake as above. Melt 6oz cooking chocolate and spoon over half of each biscuit.
Sunflower seed cookies: Add 2 oz sunflower seeds with the dry ingredients
The options are endless – try adding things like raisins, crunchie niblets…whatever you have in your store cupboard!
One of the joys I had growing up in the late 60’s/early 70’s was coming home from school on a Friday evening to find the kitchen full of wonderful yummy cakes which were being readied for the weekend. My maternal grandmother (Nonna) was from Italian stock; she was born in England but both her parents were Italian, and most of her family still spoke Italian at home. She married an Englishman (Charlie) and had 5 children. My mother was the oldest daughter after her brother, and as my grandfather was ill for much of her teens during the war, my mother became second mum to her younger siblings while Nonna worked, cooking as her mum had, in the Italian style with spaghetti etc. Consequently my brother and I grew up with an accomplished homely cook with a very rich palette of food – not fancy but very tasty.
Obviously our leanings were towards the sweet things. One of the best was a little biscuit called a ‘walnut kiss’ using coffee as the flavouring. Not particularly Italian but it sat right alongside the Victoria Sponge cake or crunchy biscuits which were also favourites. I share it with you as it was written in my mother’s recipe book – some of it you will need to play around with to get it ‘right’!
Walnut Kisses
2oz butter/marg
2oz sugar
1 tsp coffee essence
30z chopped walnuts
3oz SR flour
Grated rind of 1 lemon
· Grease a baking tray and preheat the oven to Gas 6 200C, 400F.
· Cream the fat and sugar; beat in the coffee essence.
· Add the lemon rind and nuts.
· Mix in the flour and knead gently with fingertips (Author’s note: it is a dryish mix…if more moisture needed maybe add a drop of lemon juice?)
· Break into small pieces (about walnut size) and form into balls.
· Place on the grease baking tray, wide apart.
· Cook in the oven on the middle shelf for 15-20 minutes
· Leave to cool and top with coffee water icing (made with icing sugar and coffee essence).
I have a note that this may be too hot an oven…with the advent of modern ovens the heat can probably be reduced to Gas 5 (190C) for and cooked for 12 minutes.
Guess what I’m going to be cooking this Friday evening!
By Jackie Scott
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Sift flour with spices. In another bowl beat butter with sugar till light and fluffy. Add the citrus rinds and gradually add beaten egg. Fold flour and spice mix in alternately to the fruit and nuts. Finally add Brandy.
Pour mixture into cake tin and make a slight well in the centre. Bake on bottom shelf of oven at 145’C for about 3 and a half hours. After cooking turn off oven and leave tin, in the oven to cool.
Once fully cooled, prick cake with a skewer and add 2 tablespoons of Brandy/Rum of your choice, wrap in brown paper and tinfoil and a couple of days before Christmas cover with marzipan and Royal Icing.
