Anyone who knows me, even just a little, knows this: I CAN’T STAND PINK. I don’t know why this aversion to what is considered the color that best symbolizes femininity.  I only know that it’s been this way as long as I can remember.

I will dress my daughter in green without a doubt!

And yet: never say never.  What better reason to try to overcome your own “fixations” than for a good excellent cause?

And so, to take part and give my little contribution to the nastro rosa (pink ribbon) campaign, I decided to make an exception and let pink enter my kitchen.  I pushed myself to buy pink plates (rigorously used and thrown away ), ingredients and various decorations to attach to my culinary delicacies.

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Black rice flan with ricotta sauce rosemary flavoured, pork fillet breaded with spinach flour, potato Dauphinoise and mini cranberry muffins with lemon custard.

Let's tell the truth: I was in absolute and pathological cooking abstinence.

Among moves (yes, plural), my job and definitely not expected hernia (sigh) I have sadly neglected mine "closet of the skilled cook", casket of every kind of utensil and ingredient and precious keeper of my greatest passion.

Yesterday, after a long and forced waiting,I have announced on Twitter and Facebook what would have become the post that you are reading right now: a menù for two, from the first course to the dessert, to remind and to remember that every day can be special.

And it is so.

I have used many of the ingredients purchased during first Foodies in Rome meeting: spinach flour, so perfumed; double cream, a very dense and rich in fats milky cream; and finally the candied cramberries, genuinely delicate.

The supper has been a success, I used up to my culinary creativeness and I have picked up some material for my newborn blog  unaware victim of the total frenzy of these days.

But now is enough chatters, let's start with the recipes!!!!

Black wild rice flan with ricotta sauce rosmary flavoured

INGREDIENTS:

• Black Rice 100 gr

• Ricotta Cheese 60 gr

• Rosemary

• Milk

• Salt and Pepper

Cook the rice in a pan with boiling water just slightly firm (about 15 minutes). Add cold water into the pan to stop cooking, strain the rice an put into a bowl.

From the other side take the ricotta cheese and stir it with milk: it has to be fluid, not too liquid. You can do it straight in a small pan and put it on the stove with a moderate fire. Then add the rosmary to the Ricotta souce In the meantime, prepare the ricotta cheese sauce: put the ricotta cheese in a saucepan to heat gently. Add milk gradually to obtain a fluid cream but not too much liquid. Put some fresh rosemary in the sauce and remove the pan from the heat. Pan fry the rice in a pan with oil and add more Rosemary.                                Salt and pepper to taste.

To give the shape of a rice cake I used a pasta cutter (iron ring) not too large, I placed it at the center of the dish and I filled with the rice. Complete the dish with the ricotta cheese sauce.

Pork fillets breaded with spinach flour with potatoes Dauphinoise

INGREDIENTS:

• Pork fillet 300gr

• Spinach Flour  50 gr

• Flour 00 50 gr

• Potatoes Dauphinoise

• Yellow potatoes 250 gr

• Milk 50 ml

• Double cream 100 ml

• Garlic 1 clove

• Gruyere cheese grated 50 gr

• White wine

Mix the two flours and bread carefully the pork fillets. Heat the oil in a frying pan and when it is hot put to fry fillets 3 minutes per side. Put in the pan 1/2 a cup of white wine. Slice the potatoes not too thick and put them in cold water. Put on the fire a saucepan with the double cream, milk and garlic: stir the ingredients and bring them almost to boil. Dries the potatoes and put them in the same saucepan, stirring gently. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, turn on the oven and take it to 180 °, grease with some butter a baking pan and put inside the potatoes. Cover with the grated Gruyère and bake for 25 minutes. Put in a serving plate the pork fillets with the potatoes and serve hot!!!

Mini cranberry muffins

INGREDIENTS:

• Mini muffins

• Soften Butter 90 gr

• Sugar 100 gr

• 1 whole egg

• Flour baking powder 180 gr

• yeast 1/2 teaspoon Milk 125 ml

• Cranberries 50gr  (these measures are enough for 12 mini muffins or 6 regular)

Heat the oven to 180 ° and grease the moulds for muffins. Then melt the butter and once cooled mix it well with sugar. Add the whole egg and mix thoroughly. Add gradually the dry ingredients and milk and at last the cranberries. Fill the buttered moulds for 2/3 and bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes, until they become golden and firm to touch.

• Cream lemon

• 1 egg yolk

• milk 125 ml

• sugar 50 gr

• wheat starch 13 gr

• Half a lemon zest (untreated;))

Heat the milk with lemon zest taking care that  it does not reaches a boil. In a bowl mix the sugar with the egg yolk and the wheat starch. Add gradually a little warm milk (the one with the lemon, of course) and then pour everything in saucepan with leftover milk and lemon zest. Continues to mix and soon the cream starts to thicken, shuffling quickly to avoid lumps and make a smooth mixture. If it seems too dense, add a dash of milk to obtain the right consistency. You can serve it hot or cold, I've played with contrasts: muffins still hot and cold cream. And to complete, some Cranberry to decorate

Delicious!!