In 2007 during our first wine discovery tour through Italy, we visited Castello di Brolio in Tuscany and had dinner at the restaurant that was part of the winery. They served a tasting menu to showcase their wines, and with … Continue reading Cheese Ravioli
When I saw the Blood Orange Polenta Cake on Please Pass The Recipe, I made a note on my Coming Soon page to remind myself to make it. It was a logical choice as dessert for the gluten free dinner … Continue reading Orange Almond Cake
Many pasta dishes are great for a weeknight meal, as they take no longer to prepare than it takes to cook the pasta. This is another example of such a dish, not a classic Italian recipe but something that came … Continue reading Pasta with Rabbit and Fennel (Penne Coniglio e Finocchio)
Today’s recipe is Mediterranean-style lamb shoulder marinated and then cooked sous-vide in a yogurt marinade, and served with lamb stock-infused cous cous and grilled zucchini. The combination of all three together is delicious. I had never prepared lamb marinated with yogurt … Continue reading Lamb Sous-Vide with Couscous and Zucchini
For the first time ever I’m going to cook dinner for someone who is gluten intolerant. (Luckily her version of the intolerance allows me to use my regular kitchen equipment as long as it has been cleaned.) I’m not going to … Continue reading My First Gluten Free Bread
Giallo Zafferano is one of the most popular Italian cooking websites, with anchorwoman Sonia Peronaci now on Italian TV daily with a recipe. Recently she presented Cicatielli con cozze e fagioli. The combination of mussels and beans was a new … Continue reading Fresh Pasta Dumplings with Mussels and Beans (Cicatielli con Cozze e Fagioli)
Fish is easily overcooked, and so the precise temperature control of sous-vide cooking is great to always obtain tender juicy fish that is perfectly cooked. Moreover, vacuum sealing the fish with a marinade allows the marinate to penetrate optimally while … Continue reading Thai Style Sole Sous-Vide
Etxebarri is a restaurant unlike any other restaurant I’ve ever eaten at before. It located in the Atxondo valley in the Basque country between San Sebastian and Bilbao. Etxebarri is an “asador”, a grill restaurant that cooks on a wood-fired … Continue reading Dining in Spain: Etxebarri*
The Basque city of San Sebastián boasts one of the highest densities of Michelin stars in the world. We went there for a few days to try the local cuisine, and one of the highlights of our trip was our … Continue reading Dining in Spain: Martín Berasategui***
Different types of pasta can be found all over Italy. Especially the shapes are different everywhere, but there are also differences in the pasta dough. Generally speaking, fresh pasta is made with eggs and 00 flour in the North, and … Continue reading ‘Water’ Gnocchi with Sage Pesto (Gnocchi all’Acqua al Pesto di Salvia)
The secret to a great linguine ai frutti di mare is to use fresh seafood and to use the juices of the vongole and a stock made from the shrimp heads and shells for the sauce. It is a bit of … Continue reading Linguine ai Frutti di Mare
We love to eat seafood and I prepare it at least twice a week, but for a food blogger with an Italian inclination it doesn’t provide much material to blog about. The Italian kitchen is very diverse with different dishes in each … Continue reading Fish Sous-vide Cajun Style
Marinara sauce is the American-Italian term for tomato sauce, but in Italy it usually refers to a sauce prepared in the style of the seaman’s wife and is a tomato-based sauce with seafood. I really liked the risotto alla marinara … Continue reading Risotto alla Marinara (Risotto with Fish)
One of the ways to recognize ice cream with natural ingredients is by the color of pistachio ice cream. You see, the natural color of pistachio ice cream is brownish green, so when it looks bright green it means that … Continue reading Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream
At the Asian market I also picked up Chinese eggplants. They are thinner, have a milder flavor, and a more smooth texture than regular eggplants. I thought it would be appropriate to prepare it Asian style with ginger, soy sauce, … Continue reading Chinese Eggplant with Chicken
I was feeling adventurous at the Asian market and bought this vegetable that I had never seen or heard of before. It looked like a cucumber with ridges and the sign said “terroi”. When I googled that on my phone, … Continue reading Stir-fried Loofah
Mussels are in season again. This recipe is so simple that it is hardly worth calling a recipe, but it sure is a delicious way of preparing mussels and so I’m sharing it with you anyway. It was Alice of … Continue reading Mussels with Pepper (Impepata di Cozze)
When we visited the Adriatic beach town of Roseto degli Abruzzi to eat at Vecchia Marina, Lucia, the charming hostess of the B&B we stayed at, pointed out to me that Roseto degli Abruzzi was also the home town of Antico … Continue reading The Quality of Pasta and Gold versus Bronze Drawn Spaghetti
Crostata is a very popular Italian fruit tart that is eaten both for dessert and breakfast. When we visited Jo of My Home Food That’s Amore, she gave us some goodies to take home including two jars of homemade apricot … Continue reading Apricot Jam Tart (Crostata alla Confettura di Albicocche)
Fish soup is prepared all along the Mediterranean coast. There are many varieties such as bouillabaisse from France and zarzuela from Spain. Cacciccuo alla Livornese is a fish soup from the Tuscan coast that has three distinguishing features: it is made with … Continue reading Cacciucco (Tuscan Seafood Soup)
This dish doesn’t look all that great, but it sure was tasty! I got the idea for polenta (or grits) with corn from Mimi. When I saw her post, I responded that I had never seen local fresh corn on … Continue reading Double Corn Polenta with Ham and Pickled Chipotles
One of the questions I get asked most is where I find the time to cook. Although I do spend a lot of time cooking (and shopping for ingredients), I also make a lot of very quick dishes. This delicious … Continue reading Pistachio-Crusted Guinea Fowl
Eggplant and shrimp is a combination I had never tried before, but I did try thanks to Marina of Le Ricette di Baccos and it was wonderful! The eggplant is first turned into what the French call caviar d’aubergines (i.e. … Continue reading Jumbo Shrimp with Eggplant Dumplings (Gamberoni con Gnocchetti di Melanzane)
As a good patriot I’m looking for ways to eat more tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers. And so I thought of a wonderful solution: gazpacho. This is a cold soup from Spain that is made from tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, … Continue reading Gazpacho
In most cases I plan what I am going to prepare for dinner and shop accordingly in advance, but for tonight I wanted to finish some leftovers I had in my fridge and created this dish. I had some Chinese … Continue reading Rice Noodles with Shrimp, Shiitake and Cabbage
After enjoying pigeon with cherries at Povero Diavolo, I thought it would be nice to create my own version of it. I made a sauce of pureed cherries and reduced pigeon stock. For some more cherry flavor I deglazed the … Continue reading Pigeon with Cherries
The idea for this antipasto came from ChgoJohn from the Bartolini kitchens. It was served to him in a restaurant in Florence, and he blogged about it. It is simply two sage leaves with anchovies in between, dipped in batter, … Continue reading Fried Sage with Anchovies (Salvia Fritta con Acciughe)
One of the goodies I brought from my trip to Italy was a new pasta shape: soqquadri or a square version of mezzi rigatoni. (If you can’t find the square version, you can also make this recipe with the usual … Continue reading Soqquadri Pasta with ‘deconstructed’ Eggplant Parmigiana
The idea for this rice salad with seafood came from Biba Caggiano, my favorite Italian cookery book author. This salad is brimming with tender morsels of tasty seafood, crunchy vegetables, a nice zing from the dressing, gherkins and capers, and a … Continue reading Rice and Seafood Salad (Insalata di Riso e Frutti di Mare)
We have lots of mint growing in our garden, and I love mint ice cream (especially when combined with chocolate). So why not make mint ice cream from scratch? Mint ice cream is very refreshing and perfect for the summer. … Continue reading Homemade Mint Ice Cream
