Cipolli

Still Summer Salad

2011-09-23T20:44:00.005-06:00

Has it cooled down where you live?
Here in Texas it has ( instead of being in the 100's we are now in the nice cool 90's). So it's clear, September is still summer, even if the official first day of Fall is today.
Truth be told, I'm enjoying the "summer" more now than I did in July. It's still unbearably hot, but now the mornings carry a nice cool breeze and the evenings aren't so sticky. Plus, I can actually go swimming without feeling like I'm sitting in a bath tub ( always a plus).

So since summer is still in full swing ( regardless of what the calendar says) I figure this salad is pretty perfect. It has the color and crunch that we crave when the weather is down right hot, and has the perfect lemony tang that makes you want to sit in the shade.

Even if it's getting colder where you are, you'll still want to try this one out. One bite, and you'll be back on the beach.

Summer Salad

adapted from a recipe by Giada Di Laurentis

Serves 2

1/2 pound of sugar snap peas
2 large cucumbers, peeled
2 large tomatoes ( I used Roma, but any type will do)
Juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1) Blanch the snap peas in salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and immediately immerse the peas in an ice bath. This will keep them crunchy.
2) Dice the tomatoes and cucumbers. Combine with drained sugar snap peas in a large bowl. Top with salt and pepper. Toss
3) In a separate bowl, whisk oil and lemon juice together. Pour over salad. Toss and enjoy.

a new recipe and a big announcement

2011-09-16T16:13:00.003-06:00

This time I have a valid reason for my absence.
Drumroll please......
I'm pregnant!!!!
We found out right when we got home from Greece, and even before the doctor confirmed it, I was feeling the woes of the first trimester full force.
Most nights I shied away from cooking, but on the rare event that I did turn on the stove it was only to make bland white rice, or eggs. Sometimes a sandwich or two would sneak into the pregnancy repertoire, but certainly not one worth mentioning ( because you all probably make a better grilled cheese than I do).
And that's how it went for three months.

Then, last month I visited my family in New Jersey and satisfied all of my pregnancy cravings which could not be fulfilled in Texas ( namely a Philly soft pretzel and an Italian pastry from south Philadelphia.) My mom even make me a treat which I hadn't had since I lived in Rome-white pizza topped with zucchini flowers, anchovies, and mozzarella. It didn't last long enough to take a picture though.

Being around all the great food, great family, and great friends made me my nausea disappear. And once I felt better, my brother Luciano put me to work at his restaurant at the Jersey shore.

Of course, there were many perks to working there. One night, Luciano created this fusilli pasta special that I devoured. When I came back to Texas I couldn't wait to recreate it for Gian Luca.
The verdict- it's a winner!

Fusilli with sausage and porcini mushrooms

serves 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casing removed
12 dried porcini mushrooms, diced
1 12 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 pound of fresh fusilli pasta ( dry will work too)

1)rehydrate the porcini mushrooms in one cup of warm water for 30 mins. Save the water.
2) Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and simmer until golden brown. Remove the garlic.
3) Add sausage into the pan and break it up into pieces with your spatula. Allow sausage to brown and then add the reserved porcini water and mushrooms.
4) Add the diced tomatoes and lower the heat, allowing the sauce to simmer for about 20 minutes.
5) Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, until al dente.
6) Add the pasta into the saucepan and toss until the pasta is coated.
7) Add grated pecorino and chopped parsley to taste.

where I've been

2011-06-09T16:48:00.003-06:00

Hello Blog friends-
For starters, my apologies for disappearing for over 2 months!
One minute I was counting down to my 30th birthday and the next minute it's June 9th...
So just to recap what's been going on over the past two months-
I've been grading papers and wrapping up the semester-
Writing, sending to agents, and waiting-
taking care of our new Kitten-- (an adorable rescue named Schiuma)
and vacationing in Crete!

But now we're back in Texas and ready to roll. I promise some Greek recipes soon.
Ciao!!

6 days to the Big 3-0

2011-03-25T20:40:00.003-06:00

As if the Bronx wasn't culturally diverse ( and sometimes shocking) enough, I decided, as a Sophomore in college, to go to Jamaica.

Now, I know what you're thinking-- who cares, a lot of college students go to Jamaica for spring break.

But my trip was vastly different. Instead of staying in a resort in Ochos Rios or Negril, my group stayed in a dorm in Kingston.

This trip was not about lavish beaches, tanning by a pool, or dancing until the early hours in the morning. This trip was about serving others.

Fordham University had a student run group called Global Outreach, whose main purpose was to organize volunteer trips during winter or spring break. I liked the sound of that, and while I wasn't brave enough to apply to the trip in India or Africa, I did muster up the courage to apply to Jamaica.

After a series of interviews, I was chosen to spend two weeks of winter break in Kingston with the eleven other students who made the "team". To prepare for the trip we met once weekly to talk about things we would encounter, to reflect on our week, to pray, and to organize the details. Only one girl had been to Kingston before, and she offered all the advice she could give.
But nothing could really prepare us for what we'd see. Jamaica is a third world country and was, at that time, engulfed in civil unrest. ( In fact, ours was the last trip to Kingston, as the city is too dangerous).

But amidst the crime, the poverty, images of starving children in the streets, and the sweltering heat, was one of the most touching moments of peace and beauty in my life.
We were blessed to work with the Missionaries of Charity in Kingston, and just seeing how these sisters devoted their lives helping the poor was overwhelmingly beautiful.

The residents in the Home for the Dying and Destitute were mostly older people, picked up off the streets and brought in the shelter for their dying days. But instead of fear and dismay, the walls were filled with love, laughter, and songs.

In addition to the Missionaries of Charity, we volunteered at a grade school, helping the teachers and principal with the lessons.
To thank us, the teachers threw us a dinner party, full of Jamaican favorites, including Akee and Saltfish, the dish they were raving about for days before the dinner.

As we were getting ready for the dinner, I remember feeling guilty for even having a party. It seemed odd to me to want to party after all we had seen there. When I told this to our group leader she replied, " you need to accept the gifts you're given."
So I did.

ACKEE AND SALTFISH (COD) RECIPE- Photo and recipe taken from here

Ackee and saltfish is Jamaica's national dish. This recipe is Americanized but still delivers great taste.

INGREDIENTS:

Serves: 4

1 Can of ackee, drained
1/2 lb boneless salt cod
3 tablespoons oil
2 onions, sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper skin finely chopped up
1 small tomato, chopped
3/4 teaspoon tomato paste
1/2 sweet pepper chopped
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Recipe by ©eatjamaican.com

Soak the salt cod in a pot of water overnight to remove most of the salt. If the cod is still very salty, boil in water for 20 minutes. Drain cod and cut or break into small pieces.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add the onions, thyme and scotch bonnet pepper, tomato, tomato paste and green peppers. Stir for a few minutes. Add the cod. Stir. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the can of drained ackee. Do not stir because this will cause the ackees to break up. Cook for a few more minutes then sprinkle with black pepper.

Best served with bammy, roast breadfruit, fried or cooked dumplings, or fried or cooked plantains, cooked yams and Jamaican sweet potatoes.

7 days to the big 3-0

2011-03-24T21:17:00.005-06:00

I turn 30 on April 1st- but it's no laughing matter. Even though I've started an official countdown with this post and part of me is looking forward to my thirties, another slightly larger part of me is dreading it.
After giving it much thought, I realized why.
I loved my twenties.
I mean really really loved them.
Obviously there were the big things: graduations, career accomplishments, marriage. And these milestones really made my twenties shine.
But I can sum up the essence of my twenties in one word: travel.

My twenties took me to places I dreamed about ( ahem, Roma) and other places I'd never thought I'd go (Hello Minneapolis) so I've decided to dedicate this countdown to some of the places near and dear to my heart.
Of course, I'll include the food that will always always always take me back to that place:

So we'll start in a place where probably none of you want to go- but that I dreamed of as a teenager: The Bronx

I moved to the Bronx when I was 18 to attend Fordham University, and though I wasn't yet in my twenties, I did start the decade there, so it's only fair to dedicate at least one post to the "Boogie Down".

Unlike other freshman, I was armed with knowledge- my brother Joe went to Fordham four years earlier, and gave me the best brotherly advice possible- "Go to Pizza Mike's".
So while other freshmen sat in the cafeteria on our first night, I led a small group of new friends down Webster Avenue to get what would be the first of many Sicilian slices.

But any Fordham Alum will tell you that most late night- vodka infused debates stemmed from one topic-- who has the best pizza?
While Mike's is a strong contender, Pugsley's usually wins in the end.
A quick Google search confirmed that both are still in business and, as this is a Thursday night, I'm sure some undergrads are frequenting one of the local bars and trying to decide which pizza to consume at 3,4,or 5 am.
Even though I always preferred Mike's thick pizza- which was the main culprit of the notorious freshman fifteen that I packed on ( and didn't lose until my mid twenties)-- Pugsley's stole my heart for an entirely different reason: their chicken rolls.

Picture this folks: a chicken parm wrapped in pizza dough and baked in the oven. Enough said.

And while I don't have a recipe, or a photo, you can use your imagination on this one. If by chance you ever find yourself in the Bronx, you might just want to make your way to Pugsley's for one. Just take the D train to Fordham Road and follow the hoards of students, they'll steer you in the right direction.

March is Madness

2011-03-07T11:28:00.003-06:00

Hello lovelies!
I signed on this morning and felt the need to apologize for my month long unintentional hiatus. I meant to post more in February- it was actually written in on my planner each week, but like many things that month, I put blogging on the back burner.
So what have I been doing?
Mostly I've been grading and lesson planning- I actually forgot how time consuming teaching can be. Really, hats off to all you veteran teachers out there. I don't know how you do it year after year. It's only been half a semester and I'm ready to throw out my red pen and call it a day.

I've also been obsessively checking email lately ( which also takes time away from grading and, therefor blogging; its a vicious cycle of procrastination). The reason for my new behavior is that I have currently have five agents reading my book, and I'm waiting to hear what they all think. I'm an emotional eater, so, needless to say, I've been doing a lot of mindless snacking. Right now there's a jar of almonds sitting next to me which I keep reaching into.

It's sort of a good thing that I've been snacking lately because I actually haven't been cooking all that much. That's what working 4 nights a week will do to you. But don't worry, next week is spring break and I plan to spend most of it in the kitchen and at this computer.

Until then...

pastaaaaaaa!

2011-02-07T11:39:00.003-06:00

I have a confession- I'm not the biggest pasta fan.
Ok, that's sort of a lie.
I actually love pasta in any way, shape or form. I just don't eat it all that much. Not that I'm low carb or anything- if you've read this blog at all you'd know that.
It's just that I try not to eat too much white flour ( and when I do, I like it in cookie form).

But my husband, who was born and raised in Italy, loves his pasta. He'd eat it every day if I made it. I'm almost positive that before we got married he did eat pasta everyday. What can I say? He's a man who knows what he loves.

So to keep him happy, I make pasta every now and again, but usually I make a whole wheat version for myself (Gian Luca doesn't eat whole wheat pasta- that would be like giving up his Italian passport).

This particular pasta dish makes an appearance in my new book ( a novel with recipes).
I don't know the origin of pasta alla Norma, but I do know that it is a delicious mix of eggplant, onions and tomatoes. If you like eggplant parmigiana, you'll love this one.

Pasta alla Norma
serves two

1/2 pound rigatoni
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
7 Roma tomatoes, diced.
2 cups eggplant, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
1/4 cup grated ricotta salata ( or feta)

1) Bring ten cups of water to boil. Add salt to flavor the pasta.
2) Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onions, salt and pepper and cook until translucent.
3) Add the tomatoes and eggplant. Reduce the heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer for 15-20 minutes, adding a few spoonfuls of the pasta water if necessary. (While the sauce is simmering, you can cook the pasta).
4) Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the saucepan, and toss to coat it.
5) Top the pasta with grated parmigiano reggiano and ricotta salata ( or feta)

another snow day

2011-02-04T10:12:00.002-06:00

It's 10:13am and I'm writing this post from my bed. Normally I'd be at the gym by now ( new years resolution!!) or at least, showered and out the door. But today, for the fourth day in a row, I'm home, savoring my snow day.
Today is especially nice because I woke up at about 6 am feeling like I got leveled by a bus. I'm a workaholic so I would have gone into work anyway, but the freshly fallen snow saved me.
It's lovely, really. I'd take a picture for you but you can probably look out your window and see the same exact scene ( unless you live some place tropical- in which case, I envy you)

I don't know about you, but snow days always make me lazy. I know I should be doing some work, getting ahead on my lesson plans, or creating cool assignments, but really, snow days are made for taking a break, fixing yourself a cup of tea and putting your feet up.
Think back to when you were a kid. You didn't do homework on a snow day. You went out and played!

Honestly, all I've really done is send a few emails and correct a few papers. I haven't even cooked much, hence the sandwich. Though, this afternoon I will be making a big pot of chicken soup.
And while that's cooking, I'll be doing what I love best. Reading.
I just finished Elizabeth Bard's Lunch in Paris, and Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. After all that non-fiction, I'm craving some quality fiction, so I'm about to start Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.
I'm a fast reader and it looks like I'll be in bed most of the weekend, so throw your recommendations my way.

Ah, the luxury of snow days. When else can we devote and entire day to doing stuff we love?
What do you do on your snow days?

A determined woman

2011-01-21T15:06:00.005-06:00

Do you ever wake up in the morning and say "Today I'm going to..."
Because today, I woke up with determination, with gusto, and spirit. Today I'm going to finally master the art of making dough.

I'm not talking about pasta dough; that's easy. All that requires is a little flour, an egg and some water. I'm talking about any dough that requires my arch nemesis- yeast.

The only time I've ever tried to make bread with yeast I ended up with a brick that we had to saw through, dunk in coffee, and chew almost a thousand times before swallowing.

It was not pretty.

But last night it dawned on me. I'm almost thirty. And though I still get carded when buying alcohol, I can't fake it any longer. I'm almost thirty.
Before going to sleep, I though of what a great decade my twenties were. I graduated college and grad school, wrote a book, became a teacher, lived in Rome ( twice), met the love of my life, got married, moved around a lot, wrote another book--- whew.
All this and I'm scared of a little yeast.

Or at least I was until now.

To be completely honest, bread dough was a little too scary, so I thought of an easy alternative: pizza dough. Any good Italian girl approaching thirty should have a nice pizza dough recipe in her back pocket. That's not being stereotypical, it's just how it is. So this morning, in my determined state, I called my mother, a woman with more than one recipe under her belt.

My mother is perhaps the most determined woman I know; I can't even list all the she's accomplished in her life- it'd make my little list seem unimpressive. Really, she can do whatever she puts her mind to-- including figuring out mystery recipes from favorite restaurants.

My family hardly ever went out to eat- when you own a restaurant, you don't go out to restaurants for fun because you almost always leave disappointed. There are a few key exceptions to this, and Fiorello's in NYC is one of them.

Fiorello's has been a staple in my family for years. It's located right on Broadway, across the street from the Metropolitan Opera House, and has been my dad's favorite place for years.

We've celebrated big milestones there ( my twentieth birthday being one) and it's even the site of one of the first dates Gian Luca and I went on ( I finagled that one myself).

Ok, so what does this restaurant have to do with yeast bread? Among the things we love about Fiorello's is the amazing flatbread which they put in baskets on every table. I love it so much that, more than once I've gone in just to buy some. They don't normally sell it for take-out, but a determined woman always gets her way.

One day, my brother Joey came home from New York with a bag of flatbread for my mom. "Can you figure out how to make this?" he asked, and the challenge was on. Like I said before, my mother will always figure out how to make something.

It didn't even take her long. And before we knew it, the flatbread was a staple in our holiday breadbaskets. This Christmas alone I must have eaten at least two trays. It's that good.

And now, after almost thirty years of life, I too have mastered the recipe for flatbread, yeast and all. This is probably a bad thing actually, since I've already eaten four pieces.

Yeast beware- I'm no longer afraid of you. Next time, I'll be baking bread.

Flatbread-

1 envelope dry active yeast ( 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)
1 teaspoon sugar
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil ( plus more for coating the pans)
1 cup water
mixed herbs ( I used parsley, oregano and rosemary)
salt and pepper

1- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Stir 1 envelope yeast into 1/4 cup warm water. Stir in 1 teaspoon sugar and let rest for ten minutes. If the mixture doubles in volume, the yeast is active.

2- In a large bowl, combine the flour, water and olive oil. Stir in the yeast and knead until the dough forms a ball ( you can use a mixer with a dough hook if you want).

3- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for at least 30 mins.

4- once the dough rises to double its original size, punch it down. ( This will be enough for two medium sized pizzas if you want it for that).

5. Generously oil a baking sheet. Stretch 1/4 of the dough onto the sheet, making sure to pull it nice and thin ( don't worry if it tears a little).

6. Drizzle olive oil on top of the dough, and add your favorite herbs, salt and pepper.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

our new kitchen

2011-01-18T18:21:00.004-06:00

Right now, our kitchen smells like the chicken soup bubbling on the stove and the table is covered with papers and books. My husband's sweatshirt is strewn over a chair and mail is piling up on the counter-tops. It might sound like a disaster, but it feels so right.

To be honest, when we looked at this house for the first time, I wasn't really attracted to the kitchen. It wasn't ugly ( except for the purple walls) and it didn't really need any work, but for some reason, I didn't like it.
The staging felt cold, abandoned.

We moved right after Thanksgiving and the first boxes I unpacked were for the kitchen. It seemed like the logical place to start. And little by little, the place started to feel like home (the new spiffy yellow walls helped a little too). Soon enough, I fell in love.

So even though most of the house is empty, our kitchen is warm and lived in.

a procrastinator at heart

2011-01-13T18:58:00.002-06:00

On December 31st I made a bunch of resolutions.
In 2011 I would:
1- Go on a diet
2- Join the gym
3- Blog regularly ( about what, I don't know, since I'd be dieting)

You get the point.
And here it is, January 13th and I've done none of these. Should I blame the cold weather? The fact that we were traveling for the Holidays? Or should I just chalk it up to the fact that some habits can't be broken.

Like procrastination, for instance.
I'm the number one culprit. In college and grad school a paper couldn't be written unless it was due the next day ( thank God for coffee). And even as a teacher, I would put off grading until the students started nagging me about their tests.
Then there's the house work, which I always promise to start right after this show...
And of course I'll finish this book, right after I clean the house.
You know the drill.
Yep, I'm the queen of procrastination.
I guess I should do something about that.
But first let me finish this blog post.....

A Lot of Catching Up to Do

2010-12-09T18:09:00.002-06:00

Hello blog friends! I logged on this morning and saw that the last time I wrote was in October. October!
Honestly, I am not sure where time goes, especially around the Holidays.
I know I have a lot of catching up to do, but don't worry, I'll make it brief.

First things first- the big news- Gian Luca and I bought a house!
We closed the deal in October but just moved in a week ago, so you can imagine how busy we've been. And living out of a suitcase isn't really conducive to cooking. But thankfully, my mom came here to help us so we're mostly unpacked and settled in. I'm actually sitting in my new kitchen right now!

Next- Since I haven't been working in Texas I've had lots of time to write, and I wrote a new book. It's fiction but with lots of recipes. I don't want to give too many details now, but I think you'll like it.

Oh yeah, and I got a job. And I cooked my very first turkey this Thanksgiving. And ate my first quince.

Whew!

So now that you're all caught up, it's time for a recipe, and this Shrimp Risotto is straight from my mom. She made this here the other night, and taught me that risotto is nothing to be afraid of. It's quite simple and fast actually, so don't believe all the hype about stirring and stirring and stirring- it's just not true.

So here goes- Simple Shrimp Risotto- Enjoy!
Shrimp Risotto
Serves 4

For the risotto
1 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound of small shrimp
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup white wine
3-6 cups water boiling water
salt to taste
1/2 cup of fresh Italian parsley, chopped.

1) Heat olive oil and butter in a large, deep saute pan. Add the onions and cook until translucent.
2) Add the shrimp and cook until just pink.
3) Add the Arborio rice and stir until all the rice is coated with oil and butter. Continue cooking for one minute.
4) Add the white wine and stir until it is all absorbed.
5) Add one cup of water. Allow the rice to absorb all the water before adding more.
6) Repeat until all the water is used. Add salt to taste.
7) Cook until the rice is soft, with a slight bite to it.
8) add chopped parsley and stir to incorporate.
* the risotto can be eaten like this, or with the addition of extra shrimp( see below)

For the shrimp on top
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup white wine
1/2 pound medium or large shrimp

1) In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil.
2) add the garlic and sautee until golden.
3) add the shrimp and cook until pink.
4) add the white wine and salt to taste.
5) spoon over risotto and top with fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

Imagination in the Kitchen

2010-10-14T14:31:00.003-06:00

As most of you already know, when I was seven, my parents made a move that would change my life; they opened a restaurant. They were hands-on restaurateurs, running on a tight budget, so my mother cooked while my father worked his day job and managed the restaurant at night. Being the youngest of five children, I was always attached to my parents, and while my brothers were perfectly content to stay home alone or with a babysitter, I refused to do so. The only option was to keep me in the kitchen, close to my mother while she worked.

At first, I was excited to be there and see the bustle of the kitchen. But after about one day, I was bored. I grew anxious and, like a typical seven-year old, began whining. Not knowing what else to do, my mother handed me a large stainless steel mixing bowl, positioned a large crate of sting beans at my feet and gave me a task that would keep me busy for hours.
“Snap these” she said, demonstrating how to removed the unwanted ends of the beans. “When they're clean, put them in this bowl.”
"How many should I do?” I asked, thinking that I would have to snap fifty or at most, one hundred.
“The entire case” my mom replied, returning to work behind the stove.

I looked at the box at my feet. There were at least a thousand beans in there. My eyes grew wide and I sighed heavily. The restaurant was ruining my life, but I knew if I kept complaining I’d be homebound with a babysitter, so I reached in the case and grabbed a handful of beans.
Though the work seemed daunting, I tackled it with finesse. As my tiny fingers worked rapidly, my mind reeled. I made up stories, pretended to be different characters; a lost princess held captive and forced to work kitchen duties; a farm girl responsible for the family dinner. Lost in thought, I didn’t realize that time had passed. Before long a huge pile of beans filled my bowl; I had finished the entire case and had had fun doing so.

Looking back, it's clear that my early time as an impromptu sous chef taught me an invaluable lesson; it taught me to use my imagination in the kitchen. Often I would see my mother experimenting, adding ingredients, tasting, stirring, and, sitting next to her with my pile of beans I’d pretend to be a chef doing the same.

Nowadays, I do not pretend to be someone I’m not, however, I still allow my mind to wander when faced with tasks that are so banal, like snapping string beans, that they require little attention or thought. During these moments, I’ll get inspired to throw a little extra spice into a dish, or mix ingredients that generally do not work well together. I’m no chef, just a home cook who allows her imagination to run wild. Sometimes I come out on top, and other times the food ends up half eaten or scraped into the garbage. But either way, I am successful, if I am able to relax, to experiment, and have fun. Which is really what cooking is all about anyway.

String Beans with Garlic and Mint

1 pound string beans
1 small clove of garlic (chopped)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh mint (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste

Blanche sting beans in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and transfer into a salad bowl.
While beans are still warm, top with garlic, mint, olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss together and serve.

Lovely Split Pea Soup

2010-10-07T15:37:00.003-06:00

We've been in Texas for a good four months now, and although I'm loving my new state ( and this absolutely gorgeous October weather) I do have one minor issue...

They say everything is bigger in Texas and they're not joking. It's almost impossible to go to a restaurant and not get a Texas sized portion put on the plate in front of you. And meat dominates most of that plate. Now, its not that I've gone vegetarian or anything, but frankly, I'm tired of meat!

The other day, in a near frenzy, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I ran out to Whole Foods and bought fish- wonderful calamari- which I thought I'd score and grill in a hot pan.

Earlier in the day, I'd been flipping through Jamie Oliver's Jaime at Home and saw an amazing recipe for grilled calamari with leeks. The picture made me salivate; I wanted that dish right now. Within half hour, I was picking up the goods and dreaming of the clever post I'd share with you all.

The calamari smelled funny right from the start, but to be honest, I wasn't quite sure what calamari was supposed to smell like, so I proceeded as I normally would, prepping the fish with salt and pepper, getting the grill hot enough.

But somewhere along the line, our kitchen ( or, more accurately, our entire apartment) filled with fishy smoke. I opened all the windows and had all the fans going, but the smell lingered, and despite the fact that the leeks looks beautiful, I didn't even want to try the calamari. So I threw them in the oven to get them out of my sight.

To escape the smell, I went to pick up Gian Luca at his office. I drove with the windows down, but the minute he got into the car, his face wrinkled into a scowl.
"What's for dinner?" he asked.
"Grilled Calamari," I said with a smile, hoping that if I made it sound good, it would taste OK.

But when we entered the apartment the smell slapped us in the face. "Oh my God," Gian Luca exclaimed. "It smells like a dead whale in here."
Only he didn't say it in English. He said it in Italian. And though balena morta, sounds lovely, it's not exactly what you want to eat for dinner.
Still hoping for a miracle, I pulled the calamari out of the oven. In horror, I looked at the shriveled, dried out fish. 'We're not eating this," I sighed, and Gian Luca whole heartily agreed.
We ate fried eggs and toast for dinner that night.

Ok, so maybe the calamari thing didn't turn out exactly as planned. Still, the thought of eating another steak, or even piece of chicken was making me sick, so I tried a completely vegetarian option this time. Split Pea Soup.
And after simmering on the stove for an hour, it flavored the house with that wonderful soup smell.
And it tasted even better.

Split Pea Soup

1 bag dried split peas
1 small onion
4 celery stalks
3 carrots
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 cups of water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

1) Finely chop the onion, celery, and carrots in a food processor. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot, over a medium flame.
2) Add the chopped onions, celery and carrots and cook for a few minutes, until slightly golden.
3) Add the split peas, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
4) Lower heat and simmer the soup until peas are tender. ( About 1 hour)
5) If you like a creamier soup, let the soup cool slightly and spoon into a blender. Blend until smooth.
6) Serve with grated cheese and a dash of cayenne pepper, for an added kick.

The Classics

2010-09-23T15:16:00.005-06:00

Just as soon as the September wind starts rustling the leaves, I start thinking about school.
It's been more years than I want to admit since I've been enrolled in school, and even a few years since I've been teaching, but inevitably, in the beginning of September each year, I stock up on school supplies ( you always need pens and notebooks around the house, especially when they are 25 cents each!), and start reminiscing about packing up my school bag, grabbing my bagged lunch, and heading off to school.

I also start thinking about the classics. I've always been keen on the classics.
Instead of taking Spanish or French in high school, I opted for Latin because it doesn't get more classic than that. In college, I learned to enjoy some classics ( like Plato and Aristotle) and loathe others ( Beowulf- ugh!), but still my appreciation for things untouched by time grew.

And you have to admit, sometimes the classics are just better. For example, everyone has a piece in her wardrobe that's timeless- a piece that was purchased years ago, that has withstood its trendier counterparts, and still hangs proudly in the closet. For me, its a vintage blue Fontana dress that I found in a thrift shop in Rome. Even though the dress is from the 50's it still looks amazing and is guaranteed to reap at least one compliment each time I wear it. It is by all means, a classic.
Then of course, there are recipes which we cook without effort, ones which we keep in our back pockets for dinner parties ( mine is lasagna) and others which we can whip up on a moments notice with ingredients we already have in the house ( like the pasta with zucchini and lemon that I'm going to make as soon as I finish this post).
Still, there are tried and true classics which everyone should learn. And in terms of cookies, I can think of two biggies- chocolate chip ( obviously), and shortbread.
Since I'm always trying to expand my baking repertoire, and I already know how to make a decent chocolate-chip cookie, I figured it was high time I learned how to make a proper short bread cookie.

And now that I've got them under by belt, it seems like there's no better use for flour, butter and sugar.
Give them a try, and then snuggle up with a classic novel( just not Beowulf!) and a cup of tea. Enjoy!

Classic Shortbread
( adapted from Martha Stewart)
makes 8 extra large cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons course salt
1 cup ( 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp, plus more for the pan.
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar.

1) Sift together flour and salt into a bowl. Put butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add confectioners' sugar; beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture all at once; mix until just combined.

2) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. with rack in upper third.

3) Using plastic wrap, press dough into a buttered 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. With plastic on dough, refrigerate for 20 minutes. Remove plastic wrap. Cut out a round from the center using a 2 1/4 inch cookie cutter; discard. Put cutter back in center. Cut dough into eight wedges with a paring knife. Using a wooden skewer, prick all over at 1/4 inch intervals.

4) Bake until golden brown and firm in the center, about 1 hour. Transfer pan to wire wrack. Recut shortbread into wedges; let cool completely in pan. Cookies can be stored in a airtight container at room temp for up to 2 weeks.

Sunshine on a Plate

2010-09-14T13:24:00.002-06:00

Can you believe it's already September 14th? Honestly, where does the time go?
September is actually my favorite month of the year because it seems like no matter where I live, I get to savor the long Indian Summer days.

In New Jersey, September is my favorite time at the shore because the beaches are no longer crowded and the water is actually warm ( if you've ever been to the Jersey shore, you'll know that the water is usually ice cold).

And of course, here in my new state, September is just an extension of the summer. We've had multiple days over 100 degrees and I've soaked up each one. It seems like it's always sunny in Texas.

So, logically, I wanted to capture the same sunshine on my dinner plates and this lemony Tilapia dish does just that. With a side of spinach and seasonal spaghetti squash, dinner can be served in less than 30 minutes, leaving you with plenty of time to grab an Iced Tea and head outside to catch the breathtaking September sunset.

Broiled Tilapia

Serves 2

2 Tilapia filets
1 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1) Lay Tilapia on a non-stick baking sheet. Grate the zest of one lemon over the Tilapia.
2) Top with parsley, garlic, olive oil, and the juice of one lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3) Place under broiler for 7 minutes ( or until cooked through)

Sauteed Spinach

2 cups Spinach
1 clove of garlic ( whole or chopped depending on your taste)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1) Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and sautee until lightly golden.
2) Add the spinach and toss until wilted ( about 1 minute)

For spaghetti squash click here

Enjoy!

A truce, a birthday and english soup

2010-08-24T12:51:00.003-06:00

Okay Texas- I'm calling a truce. Since we'll be living in Texas for God know how long, I need to make peace with the state. I guess it's not that bad- out of the month and a half we've been here we've had sunshine every day. And yes, its hot, but its not too humid, so it feels good.

Besides the weather, Texas has a lot to offer. It is the biggest state in the union, so there's so much to do and see. We've been to Dallas a few times, and are looking forward to trips all around the state. So I guess Texas and I can be friends. Whew- our little feud was getting tiring.

Now that that's out of the way- I had a recipe for you ( or y'all as the Texans would say).
Yesterday was Gian Luca's birthday and to celebrate, I made his favorite dessert Zuppa Inglese.

Zuppa Inglese translates to "English Soup" and the only reason I can think of for the name is that this dessert is like an English Triffle and is sometimes served in a bowl.

Originally created to use the scraps from a cake, Zuppa Inglese is layers of cake, cream, chocolate, coffee and Alchermes, a spicy, sweet liquor from Italy.

It's almost impossible to find Alchermes here in America. I actually just googled it and no one sells it. It's not even imported and there are no recipes to make a bath-tub version either.

Last year, for Gian Luca's birthday I drove to all the best wine shops in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, asking everyone who I talked to about it. No one had ever heard of it, and back then, I didn't know what it tasted like, so my only description of the liquor was that it was bright red. Upon hearing this, people in the first two stores led me to the Campari, which is bitter and wonderful but nothing at all like Alchermes. I gave up in frustration and made Tiramisu instead.
This June, when we went to Italy, Gian Luca's mom bought us a bottle to take home. If you're interested in getting a bottle you apparently have to do the same. Or ask a friend who's going to Italy.
If no one you know is going to Italy any time soon, you can still make the Zuppa Inglese because the rest of the ingredients are delicious, even without the Alchermes. And if you want the beautiful splash of red color- just fake it and use grenadine.

Zuppa Inglese can be made with either Savoiardi ( Dried Lady Fingers) or Pan di Spagnia ( yes, translated that means "bread from Spain"- what an international dessert!). It was impossible for me to find the Savoiardi here in Texas, so I opted for the Pan di Spagnia, which I can easily make at home.

Basically Pan di Spagnia is Italy's version of Angel Food Cake, though you don't have to bake it in a tube pan or hang it upside down on a bottle ( I never understood the need for that!). My mom's version of Pan di Spagnia ( see recipe below) is make in a 9 inch spring form pan, which makes it easy to remove.

But even if you break the cake, or, if like me, you don't cook it long enough and the center turns out a bit raw, it's not big deal. Zuppa Inglese is made by layering pieces of cake with cream, so feel free to cut, tear, or rip off big hunks of your freshly baked Pan di Spagnia.

The cream in Zuppa Inglese is Crema Pasticchiera- Italian Pastry cream, which can also be used in a variety of desserts like Italian Rum Cake, or cream puffs. Its lemony and not too sweet, perfect for a Zuppa Inglese.

Besides the cake and the cream, all you need is a little chocolate powder or chocolate chips and a nice strong double shot of espresso.

My husband was on to something with this one. Who wouldn't love a dessert that combines Liquor, Cream, Chocolate and Espresso?
Happy Birthday Gian Luca!

Zuppa Inglese:
Zuppa Inglese can be made as one large Trifle, or in individual glasses, as I did. This recipe makes enough for six people and can be kept in the fridge for one day.

Pan di Spagnia
5 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with wax paper. Set aside
2) In a large bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar until soft yellow ( about two minutes)
3) In a different bowl, beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
4) Sift together flour and baking soda.
5) Alternate folding the egg whites into the yolks, adding a small bit of flour after each incorporation. Repeat until all the egg whites and flour have been added.
6) pour into prepared pan and tap the pan against the counter a few times to settle any air bubbles.
7) bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

8) For the Crema Pasticchiera recipe click here

9) Once you've made your cake and cream, and the cream has chilled for at least an hour, take half of the cream and place it in a separate bowl. Set the rest aside.
10) depending on whether you like dark or semi-sweet chocolate, you can either add coco-powder to the cream, stirring until incorporated, or you can melt 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and stir that into the cream. I actually did a mixture of both.
11) Brew a double shot of espresso and add a shot of hot water to weaken it a bit.
12) Cut the cake into cubes and begin layering you Zuppa Inglese like so: Cake, coffee poured directly on top, a drop of Alchermes ( or grendine), plain crema, and chocolate crema. Repeat as necessary.

When it rains...

2010-08-14T11:34:00.003-06:00

Whoever invented the saying, " when it rains, it pours," must have lived in our apartment in Texas. If you've been reading this blog, you know that the Lone Star state and I don't really get along too well, and my last week proved that things were not getting any better.

It all started last Thursday when I left the apartment for a mere 10 minutes to go the laundry room and throw a load of wash in the machine. I returned to find a small lake in the middle of my apartment floor. I thought we had just left the state of 10,000 lakes, but apparently, I was wrong. Though I couldn't locate the source of the leak, I cleaned up the mess and called maintenance. Little did I know this would be one of the 17 phone calls I'd make over the next six days, or that the bucket full of water that I wrung out of rags would be the first of many that we'd have to deal with.

Yes, that's right, our apartment flooded for six days before management finally called a plumber.

At a certain point during day two of the floods, I needed to bake a cake to bring to a friend's house for dinner. Since I couldn't exactly leave the apartment, lest a plumber finally show up only to be locked out of the place, I had to make do with what I had in the kitchen. I found some flour, sugar, butter and nectarines. Since we still don't have internet in our place (don't even ask) searching for a recipe on google was out.

Naturally I turned to Martha, and found a delicious looking recipe for a skillet cake in the August issue of Martha Stewart Living. I don't have a skillet but the recipe said I could use an 8-inch cake pan instead.

Since I was using a cake pan, I forgot that this cake is called a Skillet Cake for a reason, and as I prepped the ingredients, whipped the butter and sugar, and sliced super thin slices of nectarines, I never once pondered the name. I had never made or eaten a skillet cake, so I was blindly unaware that it is to be served in the skillet. It makes sense, I know, but Martha also forgot to mention it in her recipe ( tisk tisk). So when the beautiful plump cake had completely cooled I thought it appropriate to try to flip it out of its pan. After all, I certainly didn't want to bring a luscious cake to someone's house in a cake pan. That would be like dressing a Van Gough painting in an Ikea frame.

I slipped a plate over the cake and inverted it. Nothing happened. I tapped the bottom of the pan one, twice, three times. No luck. The cake wasn't budging. I should have stopped there. But no, I was determined, full of frustration from my floor and the phone calls which had been ignored, and the way that management was treating us. So I flipped the cake upside down on a plate and whacked it, causing the center to fall out in big crumbs.

Then I understood why it is called a Skillet Cake. You're not supposed to take it out, instead, you're supposed to serve it right in there. I was so mad at myself that I wanted to scream or cry or at least, call Gian Luca and have him tell me it was no big deal.

Then the floor started flooding again. And as tears rolled down my face, I realized there was nothing I could do so I took a piece of the cake in my hands and ate it. At least it tasted good.

Plum Skillet Cake
Photo and Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Serves 4

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for skillet
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for skillet
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Coarse salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 ripe medium plums, thinly sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-inch ovenproof skillet (preferably cast-iron); dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk.
Pour batter into prepared skillet, and smooth top with an offset spatula. Fan plums on top, and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Summer Muffins

2010-07-29T20:03:00.004-06:00

Sorry for another post without pictures but we still haven't gotten this internet fixed!

I love reading, always have, always will. And I especially love reading in the summer ( chalk it up to all those lazy mornings on the beach).
Last summer I started a tradition of reading food memoirs* because they're fast, usually fun, and easy to enjoy when your feet is in the sand. And even though we're not near a beach this year, I still picked up a nice food memoir to enjoy by the pool. Though this one was not all about the food.

You may know Paul Deen from her food network shows but trust me, you do not know the real Ms. Deen until you've read her book It Ain't All About the Cookin'
In it, she shares her rags- to- riches story in her famous comforting tone. Really, the more I read the more I felt like I was sitting at Aunt Paula's table drinking a cup of coffee with her. (After reading, you'll want to call her Aunt Paula too).

Paula Deen's tale is not only inspirational, its also full of recipes.

Now I'm not a big fan of cooking southern food, and we all know Aunt Paula is the queen of butter and mayo. If you read my blog you'll know that I'm not a butter or mayo queen, so I am hesitant to try most of her recipes.

But when I came across her recipe for "The Best Damn Blueberry Muffins You'll Ever Eat" I had to give them a try.
Well Aunt Paula didn't lie. They really are the best: moist and cakey, with lost of juicy fruit and a crackly sugar topping. Perfect for a summer brunch.

Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Paula Deen's Blueberry Muffins

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick melted butter
1 egg ( lightly beaten)
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup brown or white sugar

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 12 cup muffin pan.
2) In a large bow, combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. Set aside.
3) In a smaller bowl, combine the butter, egg, and milk. Mix well
4) Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring until all the dry is incorporated.
5) Gently fold in the blueberries, careful not the break them.
6) Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each one 2/3 of the way full.
7) Bake for ten minutes.
8) Remove muffins and top with brown or white sugar. Return to oven for an additional ten- twenty minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
9) Let cool in pan for ten minutes before turning out.
Enjoy with a nice tall glass of milk.

*send me your recommendations. I need a new book to read!

A re-vamp

2010-07-25T18:08:00.005-06:00

This is just a quick note to say that I've re-vamped my other blog Cipolliness. Please take a look and let me know what you think!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a fabulous summer recipe, and ( hopefully) a picture too!

Learning to Love

2010-07-23T15:28:00.010-06:00

My mom makes a mean gnocchi. Seriously, people line up for them at my brother's restaurant and there's major drama when we run out. I've seen it. Now, as I understand the demand for the gnocchi- ( they are the most fluffy and light pillows of pasta you'll ever taste), I have a confession to make: I'm not a big fan. It's nothing against the gnocchi, I just prefer dried pasta to fresh ( with the exception of lasagna which I'd eat everyday if my metabolism allowed it).

Consequently, my husband loves gnocchi. I think they're his # 2 pasta choice ( second only to pici) and I'm fairly certain they're the only fresh pasta he has ever made (and he's made them on more than one occasion). Really, he is so happy smashing those potatoes up and rolling them with flour to make dough- it's a sight to see. I love my husband, and would do anything for him, so I make the little devils and lovingly eat them, dreaming of penne or capellini with each bite.

And since we've moved to Texas, I've done a lot of dreaming, as in daydreaming about strolling through the streets of Rome or lounging on the beach in Stone Harbor. And again, its not that I mind Texas, its just that I miss NJ and even ( gasp!) Minneapolis ( one year ago I never thought I'd say that). And yes, I know that probably by this time next year I'll be loving Texas just as much as any other place I've ever lived, but right now, its just okay.

As is always the case when you move, it takes a certain amount of time to adjust. And the other day I was just about at my melt-down point. We live in a beautiful apartment which is so different from any apartment I've ever lived in because it is nestled in a super-community of condos and apartments all of which are snuggled right up next to each other. The benefits are great- the kitchen is beautiful, we have not one but two pools, and the grounds are amazingly green, even in this terrible heat. The downsides are little things, like cable and internet that just don't work ( this post has been a two day effort due to varying wireless service), which all seem to add up when you are constantly on the phone trying desperately to remedy the situation. Which is exactly where I was on Thursday.

After spending one hour on the phone with the internet company ( apparently not only the internet service is slow) I'd about had it. So I decided to make homemade pasta. I realize that sounds funny, but people are comforted by all sorts of things, and my biggest comfort is making things by hand. Since we needed to have dinner, I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and whip up some pasta. When I saw the five pound bag of potatoes untouched in my kitchen, I decided gnocchi were on the menu.

And soon I was smashing the potatoes ( and my frustrations) through a ricer and rolling them out with flour and an egg yolk. Frankly, it was fun, and I was happy knowing that Gian Luca would be pleasantly surprised when he come back from work.

As the gnocchi was cooking I made a quick sauce by heating some extra virgin olive oil and garlic and tossing in some slices of fresh tomato. I finished it off with some basil from my garden ( another benefit of Texas).

Just as I was loving life, the sink decided to regurgitate someone else's food ( ah the joys of apartment living). The entire sink clogged and up floated a straw and a plastic knife ( how is that even possible?). Luckily it didn't overflow, so I didn't break my stride. I just turned my back on that sink and focused on the stove.

When Gian Luca came home he was so happily surprised by the gnocchi, that I don't think he minded the fact that after dinner he'd be plunging out the sink.

And as we were eating I realized that I really did enjoy the gnocchi- I wasn't dreaming of anything else this time. And if I could learn to love that pasta, surely I could learn to love the great state of Texas. It might just take a while, but I'm hanging in there.

* sorry there are no pictures for this post- the internet is too slow to upload them. :)

Graziella's Potato Gnocchi
Serves 2-4

4 russet or Idaho potatoes
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup grated parmiggiano cheese
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg *

* optional

1) Boil peeled potatoes in salted water until soft.
2) Mash hot potatoes through a ricer or food mill into a large bowl. Let cool slightly.
3) Add egg yolk, salt, nutmeg, cheese and flour. Mix well and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface.
4) Knead into a ball of dough. The mixture should be soft and pliable. If it is too sticky add a little more flour.
5) cut 1/16th of the dough and roll into a rope about 1/2" thick. Cut the rope into 1" pieces.
6) (This step is optional) Make an indent with your thumb or the back of a fork ( of the dull side of a cheese grater) into each gnocchi ( this will allow sauce to coat the gnocchi.
7) Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to boil. Add gnocchi.
8) When they float to the surface cook them for an additional minute then remove with a slotted spoon or strainer.
9) serve with your favorite sauce.

The gnocchi are best served fresh, but the uncooked gnocchi can be frozen for up to one month.

Enjoy!

Along the Way

2010-07-20T14:26:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was one of those miraculous days where I effortlessly crossed off all the things on my to-do list. And I had a lot to do. Since moving to Texas I feel like I've been running a mile a minute trying to get things all in order. But now that I have a second to breathe, I'd like to share a very important topic with you all. BBQ.

Now I know what you're thinking, and trust me, I'm not converting to Texas cuisine just yet. In fact, we don't even have a BBQ in our apartment. But since we did just drive 1,400 miles south, I figure I need to pay tribute to some good old cookin'. And that's just what we did in Memphis.

Some people might think its strange to plan your travel route based on food, but I'm sure none of you reading would think we were weird for doing so. Especially when the reward is world famous BBQ. And the stop is technically along the way. Yes, I'm talking about Charles Vergos' Rendezvous BBQ. Some of you may have seen the restaurant on TV or read about it in a travel magazine, and I'm here to verify that it was THAT good.
We planned our trip to make it there by 5 since they don't take reservations and there's always a wait (I and since we still had 2 hours of driving to do after dinner). We were lucky to get there when we did, because just minutes after we were sat, the line grew and eventually was wrapped around the block.
The ribs are the most popular item, so we both went right for them, and in about five minutes we were served the famous dry rubbed ribs. I was surprised by the lack of sauce, but as the menu says, the ribs are so good, you don't need sauce. They weren't lying either. Those ribs were so good Gian Luca ordered a second order.

And as we got back into our car for the rest of the drive, we felt happy and fully welcomed to the south.

A month without cooking

2010-06-28T19:31:00.005-06:00

Hello blogger friends. It's been a while.
And as you can see from the title of this post, I've been out of the kitchen for a while too.. but all for good reason.
Gian Luca and I have been in transit; a few weeks ago we moved out of Minneapolis and took off for Italy. After two incredible weeks with family and friends we landed in New Jersey to stay with my parents. We're here for another week, most of which will be in Stone Harbor, helping out at my brother's restaurant Ristorante Luciano ( I promise I'll post pictures soon). Then its off to Texas.

Since I've been out of the kitchen, I only have two little photos from our trip to Italy.

The first is of Montepulciano, Gian Luca's home town in Tuscany, where we spent the first part of our Italian vacation with his parents and friends. From there we traveled to Prato for our friends' wedding, then to Pienza, San Quirico d'Orcia, and finally Siena.

Then we hopped on a midnight but to go down to Salandra, my mother's hometown in Basilicata, where we spent four days with my family.

The second picture is from Matera, a city in Basilicata famous for i Sassi, homes carved out of the mountainside.
I promise I'll be back in the kitchen soon! Ciao ciao!

Better with Butter

2010-05-13T21:03:00.004-06:00

Now I'm no Julia Child, in fact, I generally cringe when a recipe calls for butter. Although I don't mind the taste, I just don't like cooking with butter, especially frying in butter. My arteries seem to clog at the thought of it.

But I do admit that somethings are better with butter. Take for example, a scone. The crumbly, flaky dough is only possible with butter or ( heavens no!) shortening. And while I'm hesitant to cook anything in butter, I love baking with it. So of course, when I saw this recipe for Apricot Oat scones in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, ( which Gian Luca got me for our anniversary) I didn't even hesitate at the whole stick and a quarter that the recipe calls for. In fact, I took pleasure in crumbling it with my fingers, watching the flour and oats transform into a course grainy texture with the magic of butter.

Then this morning, when we bit into the scones, we smiled, as if to say, ahhhhhh butter.

Apricot Oat Scones
from Martha Stewart
makes 8

1 cup oats ( old fashioned or quick-cooking)
3/4 cup all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks ( 10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup diced dried apricots ( cut into 1/4" pieces)
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon heavy-cream
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling ( optional)

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, the all purpose flour, the whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining. Fold in apricots.

2. Whisk together the whole egg and buttermilk. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture; using a rubber spatula, fold in, working in all directions and incorporating crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, until the dough just comes together.

3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With lightly floured hands, gently press and pat the dough into a rectangle, about 1 1/4 inches thick. Using a sharp knife or a pastry wheel, cut into eight triangles. Place triangles about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap and freeze until the dough is very firm, at least one hour or overnight. ( At this point, you can freeze the unbaked scones in a resealable bag until ready to bake, up to three weeks.)

4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolk with the cream; brush over the tops of the scones, and sprinkle generously with sanding sugar, if using. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway though, until the tops are golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. They are best eaten the day they are baked.

Ugly Ducklings

2010-05-08T21:57:00.006-06:00

I'm reading Elizabeth Berg's newest book, The Last Time I Saw You, a novel about a group of people who get together for their 40 year high school reunion. It's very cute and entertaining to think that people still live the roles that they played in high school.
Though the novel enters into the minds of several characters ( each chapter focuses on a different one) I find myself rooting for Mary Alice the "ugly duckling". I like her because she doesn't grow up to be a swan like in the fairy tale, but does gain a slew of confidence in the 40 years since graduating high school, and goes to the reunion with her head held high.
Okay, so why am I telling you this? Because when I get into a book, I really place myself in it. I've been that way since the third grade, when my teacher, Mrs. Compton, kindled a love of reading in me ( and probably all of her students). I am usually never without a book in hand (or at least a magazine). But this book, and the concept of ugly ducklings does actually have something to do with the nubby little things pictured above.
I've never met a vegetable I didn't like. But I have met quite a few that I am scared of, mostly because I have no clue what to do with them. These are usually of the neutral, gnarled variety that I speed by on my way to the tomatoes in the grocery store. You know the ones. You probably walk by them too.
So when my friend Erica came into work the other day with Jerusalem Artichokes ( also known as sunchokes) I was intrigued. I'd heard of them before, maybe even seen them on an episode of Chopped but I'd never tasted them.

Erica, a bubbly vegetarian with a great big heart, eagerly offered me a piece, and with one taste I was hooked. The flavor was like a combination of potatoes and artichokes, only with a rich nuttiness. She sauteed hers in butter and topped them with toasted sunflower seeds which added to their inherent smokiness.
Erica told me they looked like ginger roots, so the next day in the market, I looked for them. And there they were, the ugly ducklings of the isle, surrounded by popular green leafy vegetables, and plump ripe tomatoes. But I knew better they to bypass these babies.
Today I did a quick Google search for recipes and surprisingly, I hardly found any. I improvised and came up with the recipe you'll find below. Give them a try, and if you have a recipe for them, please pass it along. These might be my new addiction!

Oh, two more things:
1) Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! You are so special! I know without my mom, I would not be the person I am today. And now, I have a wonderful mother-in-law, who is like a second mother to me. I'm so lucky to have them both in my life. I hope to be a mother just like them some day. There they are- aren't they cute??

2) Tomorrow is Gian Luca and my First Wedding Anniversary!! I am so lucky and blessed to be married to him!

Ok, now for the recipe:

Jerusalem Artichokes

Serves 4

8 medium Jerusalem Artichokes ( sliced into 1/8" pieces)
1/2 medium onion ( chopped)
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
salt and pepper to taste

1) Blanch Jerusalem Artichokes in boiling salted water until firm but tender ( about 5 minutes). Drain and set aside.
2) In a medium skillet, heat olive oil. Add onions and Jerusalem Artichokes, salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat and allow to simmer until the onions caramelize and the artichokes brown a bit ( about 3-5 minutes)
3) Add the butter and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Enjoy!

Little Darlings

2010-05-05T16:44:00.005-06:00

Wow- what a whirlwind April was! Remember when I told you way back when that Gian Luca and I got some really great news? Well, it's time to share: we'll be moving to Texas! Gian Luca got his dream job there and we'll be relocating in two months. So between traveling to Denver

I was so happy last Saturday because I actually had the chance to spend the day in the kitchen baking, which is what I love best. We'll be leaving Minneapolis in a month and we have cabinets full of ingredients for baking which I won't be taking with me. The only reasonable thing to do was to spend the afternoon making 100 mini cupcakes to take to a pot-luck on Sunday. I'm a reasonable girl, so that's exactly what I did. for my conference and Texas to look for places to live, I barely had enough time to eat, let alone cook. But that seems to be the case with my life right now. It's all rush rush rush, and it's not going to stop for a few more months. But it's all good.

A gigantic tub of Nutella was among the ingredients that we needed to use up, and while I dreamed of eating a thick slabs of bread smeared with the creamy chocolate hazelnut spread for breakfast every day for the next month, I knew that was not going to happen. Instead, I used the entire tub to make Nutella Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Nutella Buttercream. The Nutella surfaced three-fold in these little darlings. It got mixed in the batter, squirted inside each baked cupcake, and piled high on top. The result: insanely rich chocolate goodness, similar to a Ferrero Rocher candy. Try them for yourself, but trust me, you'll be hooked.

Mini Nutella Cupcakes

adapted from How to Eat a Cupcake
Makes 24 minis and 6 regular

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup Nutella
1/4 cup milk

Ganache
8 oz. semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (or both)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line mini muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes) . Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add 3/4 cup of Nutella and blend thoroughly. Alternately add flour mixture and milk, blending well after each addition (Don't overmix! Blend only until no traces of flour remain.)
4. Using a tablespoon, fill each cup with batter. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.
5. When cupcakes are cool, fill them with the remaining Nutella.
6. Make the ganache. Put chocolate chips and cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds to 1 minute, depending on your microwave. Stir gently with a rubber spatula. Heat for 15-20 more seconds. Stir until well blended. Stir in chopped hazelnuts and dip cupcakes into ganache. Let cool on a wire rack.

Buttercream

2 sticks of butter ( softened)
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup Nutella

1) Cream butter. Add Powdered sugar and Nutella. Stir until combined.
2) Place buttercream into a pastry bag and pipe on top of cupcakes. Or spread buttercream on with a knife.

A Slice of the Pie

2010-04-12T14:49:00.010-06:00

I'm a traditionalist, especially around the holidays. So this year, since we were not going back to New Jersey for Easter, there was no question that I'd make my mother's Pizza Rustica, a savory pie made with sausage, eggs, and lots of cheese.

Traditionally eaten for Easter breakfast, Pizza Rustica is packed with hearty, filling goodness which oozes out of each slice. Growing up, we used to anxiously wait for Easter morning to have a slice of the pie, and though I do love traditions, this year, we just couldn't wait.

Luckily, we were invited to a friend's house for an Easter Vigil party, so I was able to bring a small pie which we all devoured at around midnight. Well, I guess it was technically Easter morning.

Anyway, there's no need to wait until next Easter to make this delicious treat. I have a feeling I'll be making it again very soon.

Pizza Rustica
Makes two 9" pies or one 16" pie

For the crust:

1 stick of butter ( melted and cooled to room temp)
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups of flour
1/2 cup of ice water

1) In a large bowl beat together the egg, cooled butter, and salt
2) slowly add the flour and baking powder. Mix well. The dough will be very dry and crumbly.
3) slowly add 1/2 of the ice water and mix. Add the rest as needed. The dough should feel moist and slightly greasy.
4) cover in plastic wrap and set aside for at least 30 minutes.

For the filling:
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced
3 lbs of Italian sausage, crumbled and cooked through.
1 lb of farmer's cheese or mozzarella cheese ( grated)
1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese ( grated)
1 egg beaten

Assembling the pie:

1) on a floured surface roll 1/4 of the dough ( if making two pies, 1/2 of the dough if making one large pie) to 1/16" thickness. Lay over a greased cake pan, making sure the edges hang over about 1/2".
2) Fill the pie crust with layers of sausage, hard boiled egg, farmer's cheese, and pecorino cheese. When the pie is full, beat one egg and pour almost all of it on top of the filling. This will bind the pie. Save just a small amount to brush over the top of the crust.
3) Roll 1/4 of the dough to 1/16" thickness and place over the pie, making sure that the edges hang over about 1/2 ".
4). Fold the sides over to create a lip and pinch the dough between your thumb and pointer finger to close the sides. ( see picture above)
5) Cut slits into the pie crust to allow air to exit during baking.
6) Brush the top with the beaten egg to give the pie a nice golden crust.
7) Place in a 375 degree oven in the center rack and bake until golden, ( about 35-50 minutes)
8) Serve hot and enjoy
-- the pizza rustica can be frozen for up to a month. Defrost it at room temp and then heat in a 375 degree oven until hot.

Cipolliness

2010-04-10T18:42:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone!
I've been in Denver for the AWP conference and have had a terrific time talking to writers, agents, publishers and fellow bloggers.
I've been so happy that I decided to create Cipolliness - a blog featuring the little things that make me happy each day.

Thank you for being patient with me- I'll be back to cooking tomorrow, I promise!

Pici -"Oh Wow"

2010-03-21T21:25:00.004-06:00

First of all, let me apologize for neglecting my blog, all of my blog friends, and all of your sweet comments. I've been spread so thin lately that I can barely manage to cook, and when I do, it's noting worthy of posting. But I do really appreciate all your support, and even when I don't respond to a comment, please know that each and every one brings a smile to my face.

As I just mentioned, I've been busy, really busy. March has been totally crazy and I've been living my own personal "March Madness" between work, my internship and editing my book. But I have a goal for myself: I'll start sending my book out to agents ( know any good ones?) by April 1st- and so far, I seem to be on track, even if it means waking up at 5 am to revise for a few hours before going to work.

But enough about that, let's get to the food. You're probably wondering about the title of this post, like- what are Pici? and why do they get an "oh wow"?

Pici are a hand rolled Tuscan pasta, similar to a really really thick spaghetti, made with semolina flour and lots of love. The "Oh wow" part comes right from Gian Luca's mouth, as I opened the fridge this evening and took out my day's work for him to see.

He's been talking about Pici for months now and we never had the time to buckle down and make them. But this afternoon, when I opened up the freezer and saw the lonely pint of Ragu just hanging out, I decided today was the day. There it was, the perfect reason to procrastinate staring me right in the face.

And, since Janelle of Talk of Tomatoes proposed a pact that we start making our own pasta, I really had no excuses did I? So girl, I'm tagging you now- you're it! ( Anyone else want to join us?)

So if you need to procrastinate, or you're just in the mood for some delicious pasta, give these a try. I promise you'll be saying "Oh wow" too.

Pici
( Makes 4 servings)

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup semolina flour ( plus more for dusting)
3/4 cup tepid water

1) On a clean work surface, make a well with the two flours
2) Slowly add the water to the middle of the well, incorporating flour from the center of the well until a wet dough forms. Knead in the rest of the dough, adding more water if the dough is too dry. Knead together to form a ball.
3) Place the dough ball aside and clean your work surface. Scrape up and discard any dried dough bits.
4) lightly flour your work surface again and knead the dough ball for a good 10 minutes using the palms of your hands ( think of it as a workout). The dough should be elastic and slightly sticky.
5) Wrap dough in a plastic bag and let it rest for 30 minutes.
6) Remove dough from plastic bag and pinch off one inch of dough. Begin by rolling the dough into a log in the palm of your hands, then place the log on your work surface and roll outwards, pressing gently with your palms. Roll the dough out until it is a long, thin strand, about 1/16th of an inch thick. This will take some practice, so don't worry if all of your pici come out to be different sizes.
7) Lightly dust a cookie sheet with flour and place the finished pici on that, careful not to let them stick together. Repeat with the rest of the dough. ( Refrigerate the pici if you won't be using them for a few hours. For anything more than 1 day, pop them in the freezer.
8) Bring 8 cups of water to boil. Add 2 tablespoons of salt and one teaspoon of olive oil to the boiling water. This will flavor the pici and allow them not to stick together. Add the pici and cook until cooked through, ( about 5- 10 minutes depending on the thickness of your pasta).
9) Drain and serve with ragu and pecorino cheese.
10) say "Oh wow" just to make me feel good :)

Orecchiette with Shrimp and Broccoli di Rape

2010-03-06T09:50:00.006-06:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about my aunts, uncles and cousins in Italy. Its been almost three years since I've been there to see them, and even though we can connect through Facebook and Skype, there is nothing like being there in person to sit around a big lunch table, talk, laugh and eat loads of homemade food.
Obviously I love going back to see them, but I also love going back to eat, and my aunts all know exactly what I crave and find a way to make my favorite dishes. My Zia Anna always makes her Crostata di Ricotta, with her homemade ricotta cheese that is like no other I've ever tasted. Zia Guiseppina make her panzarotti, which, when we were kids, we'd fight over. Zia Lena makes spectacular pastas with the wild mushrooms that my Zio Vincenzo collects on his morning walks through the woods, and finally, Zia Maria, my Godmother, makes her Orecchiette.

Zia Maria is a specialized pasta maker. I've seen her work and she's methodical but has that certain rhythm that can only be seen when one is really enjoying her work. She sets out her wooden board, coated with years of flour, on the counter near her window. There she works, always taking time to chatter with neighbors as they pass, watch her grandchildren play in the street outside, and wave her husband in from the cold. She does this almost every day, and it is comforting to think that even now as I write this post, she is probably at her window, rolling out dough and shaping the "little ears" with her thumb.
I rarely make my own pasta. I love doing it, but most days there is not enough time, so we have to be content with dried pasta from the grocery store. Luckily, with the right sauce, the pasta still has the ability to transport me to the streets of Salandra, where I am walking outside of my Aunt's window, waving to her as she works.

Orecchiette with Shrimp and Broccoli di Rape
Serves 4
3/4 pound of orecchiette
1 pound of Broccoli di Rape
1 pound shrimp ( peeled and cleaned)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring 3 quarts of salted water to boil. Add Orecchiette and cook according to package directions.
2. Cut Broccoli di Rape into small pieces and blanch in boiling salted water for 5 minutes ( this will remove all the bitterness)
3. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic cloves and red pepper flakes. When the garlic beings to brown, add the shrimp and cook until they turn pink. Add the white wine and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the blanched broccoli di rape, salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer together for another 3 minutes.
4. Drain the pasta and add to the saucepan. Stir to coat the pasta in the sauce. Top with the lemon zest. Serve hot.

Souffle for Two

2010-02-17T12:38:00.003-06:00

I'm terrible at Math. I've never liked the subject and, in school took the minimal amount of Math possible to graduate. That means I only took three years in high school and one measly semester in college, and let me tell you, they were both a long time ago.

Yet, math seems to always rear its ugly head my way. Like when I was a Senior in college and had to take the GRE for grad school, or when I'm trying to convert recipes from the metric system to our measurements. Luckily, I married an engineer who loves math, so Gian Luca usually takes care of all of the mathematical requirements in the house.

But yesterday, in honor of Mardi Gras, I wanted to surprise him with chocolate souffles. Now, I know that sounds daunting, but I am a self proclaimed souffle queen, and nothing about the process is scary to me. That is, until I realized that unless I wanted to make 24 souffles, I'd need to do a little math.

See, a normal batch for me would be 24 souffles, because I am used to making restaurant quantities of these guys. I don't even have the recipe written down, because, for six summers of my life, I'd unlock the door to my brother's restaurant at 9 am, turn on the lights to the empty kitchen, hook up my Ipod to listen to some U2 and whip up a batch before hitting the beach. In less than an hour, I could make 24 souffles and be out the door before the prime hours of sun hit. And, I did this seven days a week. So I never even had to think of writing down the recipe until yesterday.

First of all, we don't even own 24 souffle cups, so of course, making a whole batch was not an option. But I vaguely remembered that the original recipe started out as one for 8 souffles. Still too many for us, but at least that would be manageable.

I scoured the apartment for a calculator but was not able to find one, so I figured I could divide on my own. If a 6th grader could do this math, so could I. I grabbed my pen and paper, writing down the recipe for 24, them dividing it by 3, then finally dividing that by 4 to get the lonely two souffles which we would enjoy.

I was skeptical- what recipe calls for 1/2 a tablespoon of butter? And how in the world would I fluff up one egg white?

I pulled on an apron and turned on some U2 for good luck.

Low and behold, the batter looked and smelled fine ( and the lonely egg white did whip up just fine). And when we baked them hours later, they rose in all their splendor, just like a normal souffle at my brother's restaurant. And, given the mathematics that I went through to make them, they tasted even better.

Chocolate Souffle
This recipe yeilds two souffles. It can easily be multiplied to make any amount necessary.

2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 ounce of unsweetened chocolate
1/2 tablespoon of butter ( plus more for coating the souffle cups)
1/2 tablespoon of flour
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar ( plus more for coating the souffle cups)
1 egg ( separated)
1 teaspoon powdered sugar

1. Coat the inside of two souffle cups with butter, making sure to get the sides and the top rim. Roll sugar in the cups, making sure to coat the entire inside, sides, and top rim. This will allow the souffle to rise.

2. Chop the chocolate into small pieces to make melting easier.

3. In a small saucepot, melt butter over a low flame. Add the flour and stir until it forms a paste. Add the milk and stir to form a roux. ( Make sure that all the flour/butter mixture has melted into the milk. If needed add a tablespoon more milk.) Stir until thick.

4. Add the sugar and chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts. Remove from flame. Transfer the chocolate mixture into a bowl and allow to cool slightly.

5. Add the egg yolk to the chocolate mixture and stir well.

6. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white until it forms a soft peak. Add the powdered sugar and continue mixing until it forms thick peaks.

7. Slowly fold the egg white into the chocolate mixture, being careful not to deflate the white.

8. Pour batter into prepared ramekins. At this point the souffles can be refrigerated until ready to bake. They are best baked the day they are made, but will keep in the fridge for up to three days.

9. To bake the souffles- preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the souffle dishes on a baking sheet ( this makes removing them so much easier). Bake on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes.

10. Top with powdered sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream and strawberries. Enjoy!

A Valentine

2010-02-14T23:44:00.003-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!
Gian Luca and I have been celebrating all week ( which may explain why I have not posted)!
Our celebrating started early in the week when we got a big surprise that has kept smiles on our faces this whole week ( sorry, I won't say what it is just yet).
Then, on Wednesday, when I came home from work, I found a huge package from my parents on our doorstep. My brother Joe is an actor and a member of SAG so I knew my parents were sending me a bunch of movies that he gets to review ( and we all get to watch) but I had no idea what could have possibly made up the other ten pounds in the box. My first thought, cookies.
My mom loves to bake even more than I do and it seemed logical that she'd send some our way.

Well there were some Biscotti di Prato inside the box, but she didn't stop there. She sent a humongous jar of Nutella, perfect for making these, a box of Ferrero Rocher candies ( Gian Luca's favorite), some amazing scallion and black olive stuffed focaccia ( I promise I'll get the recipe soon), and all the fixing for my favorite soup- Stracciatella.

That's right, my mom sent me frozen blanched escarole and frozen mini-meatballs so that I could combine them with chicken stock and an a few eggs and enjoy a little taste of home.
It was by far the best care package I've ever gotten. How is it that moms just know?

Stracciatella is also know as Italian Wedding Soup, though, growing up we never referred to it as anything but Stracciatella ( which, by the way, is also the name of a very popular gelato flavor).

Stracciatella Soup
There is no recipe for this soup, just a few instructions and links to other posts. Enjoy.

For Chicken Stock click here
For the meatballs click here just be sure to roll the meat into tiny tiny balls ( about 1/4 inch round). They cook up faster than the larger ones so keep your eye on them.

For the soup:
2 quarts of chicken stock
2 cups mini-meatballs
1 head of Escarole- chopped and blanched.
2 large eggs- beaten

In a large stock pot, heat chicken stock, 2 cups mini-meatballs and escarole. Bring to boil.
Add beaten eggs into the soup and stir. Let simmer for an additional 3 minutes. Top with freshly grated cheese and enjoy with crusty bread!

Cream Puffs

2010-02-05T17:02:00.007-06:00

Sunday is our friend Giacomo's birthday and since we are seeing him tonight, I wanted to make something special. Cream puffs came to mind because when we were little kids, my mom always always always made cream puffs for a special occasion. And since Giacomo is from Italy, I figured he'd appreciate the Italian creme in these. And I figured you would too.

See, these are not your average creme puffs, filled with thick whipped cream, or butter cream, these are Italian creme puffs, filled with crema pasticchiera- doesn't that just sound special?
Well, it is, and it is also easy to make, which is great on a day that I am working from home and have a to-do list as long as the table.

Cream puffs have two steps- hence the name "cream" and "puff". Incidentally, both parts can be used in many many ways. Like Italian rum cake? Try it with this cream. And the "Puff" is so versatile. It can be used as the base of my favorite dessert- profiteroles ( just fill these suckers with ice cream and top with a hot chocolate sauce), or, since they are not sweet, they can be used in savory dishes. You can stuff them with crab salad or goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes- yum!
So next time you want to make something special for someone ( ahem- like on Valentine's day perhaps?) give these a try.

Cream Puffs
yield 20 medium creampuffs

The Puffs-
1 stick of butter
1 cup of water
1 cup of flour
4 eggs- at room temp.

1- In a medium saucepan on low heat, melt the butter.
2- Add the water and bring it up to a boil.
3. Once the butter/water is boiling, add the flour and stir, making sure to "cook" all of the flour so that no white is showing. ( You'll be able to hear the sizzling of butter on the sides of the pan- this is a good thing!)
4. Remove the dough from the stovetop and spread it on a flat plate to cool- like this:

5. Once the dough is cool, transfer the dough to a mixing bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time on a low speed. The dough will appear sticky. This is good! Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Drop teaspoons of dough on the sheet, about 1 inch apart.
7. Bake on the middle rack at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN!
8. Lower the oven to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes, until golden. ( If you have to peek you may at this point)
9. Cool on a wire rack.

Crema Pasticchiera
2 cups whole milk
the peels of 2 lemons
3 egg yolks
4 heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar
4 heaping tablespoons of flour

1. Peel the Lemons, leaving them intact. Place the lemon peels in two cups of whole milk. Heat the milk on the stovetop, over a low flame, being careful not to let it boil.
2. In a different bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Once incorporated, add the flour.
3. Add a small ladle full of the warm milk into the egg mixture, whisking quickly so that the eggs yolks do not cook.
4. Add the egg mixture into the milk and stir over a low flame until it thickens into a cream- about ten minutes.
5. Remove from stovetop and allow to cool to room temp. Remove the lemon peel.
6. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Assembling the cream puffs:
Cut each puff in half. If you'd like them topped with chocolate, like I did melt some chocolate chips in a double boiler, being careful not to burn them. Add a bit of butter ( about 1 teaspoon per cup of chips) to give the chocolate a nice shine. Stir it together. Dip the top of the puffs in the chocolate now. ( it is a lot easier than dipping when the puffs are filled).
Spoon the cream into the bottom half of the puff, and top with the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or let them be.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Goodbye January

2010-01-31T18:37:00.005-06:00

Can you believe the first month of the year is over today?
Did you all keep your New Years Resolutions so far?
I know I didn't keep them all ( some never made it to Jan 3rd), but I did keep one, and I'm very very happy about it.
On the first day of the year, I vowed to begin eating more protein. In the carb-happy world of food blogging we often ignore meats and fish for the more photo-friendly baked items. While they are delicious, they are not exactly diet friendly. Now don't worry, I didn't forgo sweets all together; I could never break my love affair with carbs. But I am incorporating protein in my diet in as many ways as possible. Which led me to my newest discovery: Greek Yogurt.

While I've always been wishy-washy about regular yogurt, I am madly in love with Greek yogurt. Its thick, rich texture and slightly sour taste pairs wonderfully with sweet or savory dishes.
I've been packing it with cut up bits of fruit, unsweetened coconut, and slivered almonds, for a protein packed lunch that has much much less fat than a hamburger, but almost the same amount of protein. Yes, I'm talking twenty grams per serving! Do you see why this is love?

Then, last Friday, Gian Luca and I went to dinner at 112 Eatery which is hands down the best restaurant in Minneapolis ( the chef, Isaac Becker, is a James Beard award winner). And low and behold, I saw my friend on the menu- there he was peaking out at me, accompanying the Lamb Scottadito.
The creamy yogurt based sauce was like a burst of freshness accompanying the juicy grilled meat. So I set out to recreate it, and came out pretty close, though I added a lot of parsley, so mine came out looking a bit greener than the original.
We ate the sauce with grilled skirt steak, and when we finished the meat, we happily dipped our potatoes into it, after all, a girl's gotta have some carbs.

Yogurt Sauce
Yield 1/2 cup of sauce

1 cup flat leaf Italian parsley
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of plain Greek Yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Use as a dip for meats or veggies.

Bravo Bravo

2010-01-30T17:17:00.002-06:00

Last week, Gian Luca got a craving for his mother's Ragu. I know that no one can ever top a mother's sauce, so I asked for her recipe instead of trying my own. The result: an authentic meaty ragu that had us both reaching for seconds.

The ragu cooks low and slow so this recipe is not one to be made after a long day of work. But trust me, it is perfect to cook on these cold, snowy Saturdays when you want to stay home all day.
Luckily the recipe makes a lot of sauce so you can stock your freezer and whenever you get a craving for mamma's ragu ( or the almost equivalent) just defrost a bit, boil up some pasta and start dreaming of Italy.
I'm actually defrosting some right now...

Enjoy!

Meat Ragu
( makes 4 quarts)

1 large yellow onion
2 carrots ( peeled)
4 stalks of celery
1/8 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1 32 oz can of tomato puree

1. Finely chop the onion, celery and carrots ( this can be done in a food processor). In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and sautee the vegetables until lightly browned.

2. Add the ground beef and pork and lower the flame, allowing the meat to cook slowly. Break up the meat and stir occasionally. Allow the meat to cook through, (about 30 minutes).

3. Add the tomato paste and wine. Stir and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Add the tomato puree and allow the sauce to simmer for 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours.

Ultimate Ham and Egg Sandwich

2010-01-24T15:28:00.004-06:00

There's just something about lazy Sundays. I love a day where you can do everything that you love and not have to worry about rushing around checking off your to-do list. Today is one of those days ( which is why I'm posting!).

The other thing that I love about Sundays is brunch. It really is the perfect lazy day meal because it just feels indulgent to eat a huge amount of breakfast food smack in the middle of the day. And being that breakfast food is my favorite, I love the fact that I can be lazy and savor it at whatever time I please.

I think I also love brunch because it reminds me of the early days of my relationship with Gian Luca, when we were still getting to know each other and trying to interpret whether or not we were falling in love. In those days I was working as a waitress in New Jersey and I never had a Friday or Saturday night off. So Gian Luca and I would do Sunday brunches in Philadelphia. I loved waking up early ( even when I worked late the night before), getting ready and driving over the Ben Franklin Bridge listening to Frank Sinatra on the radio. We'd meet for church at St. Patrick's near Rittenhouse Square ( where we eventually got married) and then get brunch and spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around the city. Everything was new to me then, even the city that I had grown up in, because I was seeing things with Gian Luca.

And even now, we love brunch on Sundays. Sometimes we go out and sometimes, like today, we get creative and eat at home.

There's one rule about brunch for us: it must be easy. So when we are cooking brunch, it usually consists of eggs, toast, and maybe a pancake or two. But today we were inspired by the movie Spanglish. In it, Adam Sandler's character makes himself an egg sandwich on crusty ciabatta bread that made us both want to reach through the TV screen and take a giant bite. Instead, we re-created it ourselves, deeming it the ultimate ham and egg sandwich. Enjoy.

Ultimate Ham and Egg Sandwich

2 Ciabatta rolls ( or whatever bread you'd like, today we used multi-grain buns)
4 slices of prosciutto
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 cup baby spinach leaves
2 thick tomato slices
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place bread on a baking sheet and toast until golden ( flipping once to ensure that both sides are toasted). Place one piece of prosciutto on each piece of bread. Bake for 5 minutes.
3. In a small saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and 1 clove of garlic. When the garlic begins to brown, add the spinach and salt and pepper to taste. Allow the spinach to wilt and remove from heat. Set aside.
4. In a medium skillet, fry eggs over-easy style, so that the centers are still runny.
5. Assemble the sandwiches with the prosciutto, egg, tomatoes and spinach. Drizzle remaining olive oil over the sandwich.

On the Fly

2010-01-17T22:53:00.007-06:00

Yesterday afternoon we had some friends come into town, and before they arrived Gian Luca suggested that we have them over for dessert and coffee after dinner. He suggested this at 2 pm, when I was still in my pajamas, sitting at the kitchen table working on my book.
I was in no mood to go to the grocery store, but I also wanted everyone over for dessert, so I took a quick survey of the kitchen and tried to figure out what I could bake. I saw pears in the fridge, coco powder in the cabinets, and I thought they'd go well together in a cake.
A quick google search told me I wasn't alone. Pear and chocolate cake recipes flooded the screen, and although some which called for chocolate chips looked to-die-for, I had to settle for what I had in stock.The result: a moist, rich chocolate cake, sprinkled with sweet refreshing pears. To be honest, it wasn't my best cake ever, but for something baked on the fly, it was pretty good. And there is something accomplishing about being able to just make a cake without planning. To have all the ingredients for a cake available just made me feel settled in our apartment. Sometimes I am still amazed at my life. Gian Luca and I sometimes look at each other and squeal, "We're married!" ( sorry but we are still newlyweds!) So being able to whip up a cake is like we're screaming "We live here!" Ya know what I mean?

* as a side note, I have to say that my friend Luca's reaction to the cake was the absolute best reaction to a baked good I've ever gotten. Luca, I repeat, you are always invited over!

Upside-Down Pear Chocolate Cake
adapted from Jesse Ziff Cool, Epicurean.com

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened coco-powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup strong brewed coffee ( cooled)
3/4 cup buttermilk*
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 pears, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/2" thick slices

1. Lightly oil a 10" cake pan, line with parchment and lightly oil the parchment as well
2. preheat oven to 375 degrees F
3. Combine flour, sugar, coco-powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl
4. In a large bowl mix together eggs, coffee, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until well combined.
5. Line the bottom of the cake pan with the pears in a circular design. Pour the batter on top of the pears and bake for 40 minutes ( or until a wooden pick in the center comes out clean).
6. Place on a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. If the cake is uneven, cover it with a clean plate and weigh it down with a pot of cold water for a few minutes.
7. Carefully run a metal spatula around the edges of the cake pan. Invert the cake onto a serving platter and tap the top of the pan, shaking it a bit to loosen it. Leave the pan on the cake for 15 minutes. Remove pan and parchment and allow the cake to cool completely.
8. Serve with French vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream. Enjoy with friends.

A Way to Warm Up

2010-01-13T23:25:00.004-06:00

All I heard all day at work was people commenting on how warm it is. Then, tonight as I was driving to the grocery store the radio weatherman said it was going to be warm all week. I stuck my hand out of the window. Yep, still freezing. Then it hit me, we are living in a city that considers 24 degrees Fahrenheit to be warm.

I guess it could be worse. It could be -24 degrees ( which is typical here in January). Still, I had to chuckle.

Being that the weather is still unpredictable ( it may snow later in the week) and real warm weather is months away, I thought I'd share the no-fail way to warm up. A recipe for soup.

Minestrone soup has always been my favorite, because as a kid I had a strong aversion to meat, and this was the one meal I didn't have to worry about. It remains a favorite because, once it is in the pot, I still don't have to worry about it. This soup is so easy to prepare, and the longer it stews the more flavorful it becomes, and while the stove-top is warming up your kitchen, you can make yourself a nice warm mug of coffee and read a good book. That's what I did at least. And before I knew it, I felt like I was on the beach again.

Minestrone Soup

This recipe is completely vegetarian and can easily be made gluten-free. Just substitute water for the vegetable stock.

You can pretty much use whatever durable vegetables you'd like. Feel free to play around.

2 large zucchini
3 potatoes ( peeled)
4 celery stalks
4 carrots ( peeled)
1 head of broccoli
1 cup green peas
1 medium onion
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock ( or water)
2 tablespoons fresh basil ( chopped)
salt and pepper to taste

1.Dice all vegetables ( except peas) into uniform pieces. Blanch the zucchini, potatoes, celery, carrots, and broccoli in boiling water for 3 minutes. Strain.

2.Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and cook until they begin to look translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook until lightly browned.

3.Add the crushed tomatoes, vegetable stock, basil and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes ( the longer this simmers the softer the vegetables will become).
4. Top with a drop of olive oil, freshly grated parmesan cheese and basil. Serve with onion focaccia or crusty bread.

For the love of tomatoes

2010-01-07T21:44:00.004-06:00

I've been thinking a lot about tomatoes lately. I know that sounds strange in the dead of winter, especially since we live in sub-zero conditions, but I have, and I'll explain why.

The novel I've been working on is titled In the Field of Tomatoes, and as I mentioned before, it takes place in my mother's hometown in southern Italy, Salandra. The town was primarily a farming town in the early 20th century ( when my novel takes place) and I set the entire novel either in town, or in the tomato fields around the town.

I've been hard at work revising the novel and, one of my goals for the early part of this year is to start sending it out to agents and ( cross your fingers people!) sell it. So, you see my preoccupation with tomatoes now huh?When I got home from work tonight, I barely had enough time to cook, let alone revise anything before dinner, so I used the one hour that I had to brainstorm about chapter 9 and make these stuffed tomatoes.

They were the perfect side-dish to the herb frittata that we ate for dinner, and even if you don't have tomatoes on your brain, one taste of these and you'll be thinking about them too.

Pomodori al Forno ( Baked tomatoes)

6 medium Roma tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons pecorino romano cheese ( optional)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place on baking sheet or casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Combine breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic powder and cheese in a small bowl.
4. Fill the tomato halves with the breadcrumb mixture.
5. Drizzle olive oil on top of tomatoes.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.

An Epiphany

2010-01-04T17:46:00.005-06:00

Hello again! I know I've been away for what feels like forever.
Our Holidays were delicious and I'm not just talking about all the food that we consumed.
Gian Luca and I went to New Jersey to stay with my family and his parents flew in from Italy to be with us too. All of us together made for some great meals, laughs and many many hugs, but no time to blog- so sorry!
And even today, I don't have a recipe for you all, just a little posting about my day and my big epiphany for the new year.
Remember those books- Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ? Someone gave me one for a graduation present when I finished high school and I absolutely hated it. It actually got me mad because the accumulation of all the small stuff can lead to a big meltdown.
You know the story- we've all had bad days- days that just start off bad and progressively get worse little by little. Well today was like that for me, because this morning I woke up late, scalded the milk for my coffee, and then, got into my car and puff- the radiator blew out. After more than a few tears, I spent most of the day waiting for my car to be fixed and then reluctantly paid the hefty bill.

But as I was waiting for my car I spent some time thinking and I came to realize that yes, life is made up of the small stuff, but that is the beauty of life. Small things ( like scalding your milk) can annoy us, but other small things ( like the fact that your husband made you coffee) can cheer us right up. So today I made a New Year's Resolution: to focus on the beautiful small things in my life.And once I started looking around, I saw that my world is full of them. And even this morning, as I was crying about the car, I saw these tiny porcelain measuring spoons that Gian Luca bought me for the Feast of the Epiphany. They are so darling that, even in the midst of tears, I had to smile.

So I have to ask- what are the little things that make you happy?

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-25T16:59:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Inexpensive and Versatile

2009-12-14T13:14:00.003-06:00

If you're like me and have already blown the bank on Christmas gifts ( and still have people to shop for!), you're probably not looking to spend too much on food. Roast Pork Loin is the perfect solution as it is inexpensive and so versatile.
Last night, I cooked a small boneless pork loin and we ate it for dinner with roasted potatoes and a salad. This morning, I packed Gian Luca a sandwich of roast pork, sundried tomatoes and provolone cheese, while I just enjoyed a salad with roast pork, arugula, apples and grana padano cheese for lunch myself.

And we still have pork left over: not bad for one night of cooking.

Roast Pork Loin

3 pound boneless pork loin
4 cloves of garlic ( peeled)
1/4 cup ground butcher pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dry or fresh rosemary
1/4 cup white wine
salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Trim the fat off of the pork loin and, with a sharp knife, make four 1/2 inch deep slits across the top of the pork. Push the garlic cloves inside the slits.
3. Place the pork in an oven safe pan and season with salt, pepper and rosemary. Tuck the bay leaves under the pork.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove and pour the wine over the pork.
5. Bake for an additional hour ( if the pork starts to look dry add 1 cup of water to the pan).
6. Remove from oven and cover tightly with aluminum foil ( this will allow the juices to stay inside the pork.
7. Slice and serve warm with pork gravy.

serves eight

Pork Gravy:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup of water
pork drippings

1. melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low flame. Add the flour and stir to form a roux.
2. Strain the juice of the pork ( to get rid of some of the pepper) the add 1 cup of water to it.
3. Add to the roux and stir until thick.
4. pour over the pork and enjoy.

The Survivors

2009-12-11T15:49:00.005-06:00

The title of this post has two meanings. The first being that no matter how expansive and ever-changing my cookies repertoire has become, these Kitchen Sink cookies have survived. They've made the cut because they are so versatile and contain literally everything you could want in a cookie. Really.
These babies are made up of everything that I love: besides the butter, flour and sugar, they contain chocolate-chips, coconut, bananas, oats, raisins and almonds. And the best part is, you can stir in anything you want. Yep, that's right. Don't like raisins? Add dried cherries. Want some crunch? Try adding slivered almonds or chopped walnuts. Hate bananas? Just leave 'em out! This recipe is flexible enough to adapt to any taste.
So can you see why these are an old favorite? And since you don't even need a mixer these are the perfect cookies for those of you who live in a tiny apartment like us ( Yes, that's right folks, we don't have a mixer here!).

The second meaning to my title is a bit less exciting than this cookie recipe. In fact, it is actually depressing. The second meaning is literal because these eight cookies that you see here are the only survivors of this batch.
Everything was going well and I had just placed these eight cookies on a cookie sheet, when I opened my cabinet to grab a glass ( to press the cookies, see below), when low and behold, a glass fell on the counter-top, shattering into millions of little pieces all over the counter and floor. Unfortunately, the cookie batter was hanging out right next to the wreckage. I actually debated picking through the batter, but, when I saw how small the little shards of glass were, I knew I had to trash it.
And of course, we had no more butter, flour, oats, coconut or chocolate chips in the house. Lessons learned: don't overcrowd your cabinets and always, always have cookie fixins' on hand.

Guess I'm headed to the grocery store. Happy weekend!

Kitchen Sink Cookies

adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes about 4 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened flake coconut
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper.
In a large bowl with a wooden spoon, beat butter, banana, sugar and brown sugar together until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in vanilla.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually stir into butter mixture until well blended. Add oats, chips, coconut, and raisins, and stir until well blended.
Drop batter by heaping tablespoons or with a 1 ounce ice-cream scoop onto silpat about 2 inches apart. Press tops down with the bottom of a glass to flatten cookies evenly. Bake until golden, about 16 to 18 minutes. Cool on pan for 2 minutes. Remove from pan, and finish cooling completely on wire rack.

Biscotti di Prato

2009-12-06T23:37:00.005-06:00

I want to start by saying I didn't bake these. My mom did. I've been so focused on working and writing that I've hardly had time to cook, and poor Gian Luca has been living on Mortadella and Provolone sandwiches for the past week. But I can't stay away people. So even if I didn't bake these cookies, I need to tell you about them.
As I told you last time, my mom is the best chef I know. She can not only cook an amazing meal, but she can bake too. I owe all my cooking abilities and passion for baking to her.
My Nonna Lucrezia was also an excellent cook and my mother has so many stories of watching her mother in the kitchen as a child. These cookies, however, are not my grandmother's recipe, but one that my mother learned at the age of twelve when she left her small southern Italian town and moved to Prato in Tuscany for school.
My mother learned most of her culinary skills while living in Prato, Assisi, and Milano and growing up we were lucky enough to eat recipes from North and South Italy. When my mom opened up her restaurant in 1989 she fused the two regions together and created Italian food that transcends boundaries. Yet, some recipes must stay true to their origins. So when my mother was writing her cook-book, she labeled these cookies Biscotti di Prato, other wise known as Cantuccini.

Biscotti literally means "baked twice" and these cookies really exemplify their name. Smaller than the average biscotti, these little guys are hard as rocks as they are meant to be dipped in Vin Santo ( very sweet dessert wine, which, by the way, my in-laws always bring us from their hometown of Montepulciano) or at least, a rich, dark espresso.
These cookies are one of the first recipes that I tried and successfully baked on my own one winter in New York when I decided to bake Christmas cookies for everyone at work. They are so easy and delicious that they were ( and still are) perfect for a cookie tray. And, because of their durability, these cookies have a very long shelf life. They can last up to one month in an airtight container, but trust me, one bite of these and I guarantee the batch won't last a week. Just watch your teeth!

Biscotti di Prato

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups almonds ( shaved or whole roasted)
1 egg beaten

1. Sift together flour and baking powder and put on a rolling surface. Make a well in the center of the flour. Put sugar, 4 eggs and almonds into the well and mix with the flour ( starting in the center and gradually adding flour, the same way you'd make homemade pasta). Combine until dough forms.
2. Form dough into two long, skinny loaves ( about one inch in diameter). Put the loaves on a greased baking sheet. Brush the surface of the loaves with the beaten egg.
3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes
4. After taking the loaves out of the oven, cut 1/2 inch slices diagonally across each loaf. Place the cut pieces on a flat tray and bake for another five minutes, or until golden, but not too dark. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Thanksgiving recap

2009-12-02T08:40:00.004-06:00

Happy December!
December is my favorite month because really the entire month is filled with celebrations. But before I get into all that, I need to post a bit about Thanksgiving ( better late than never!).

This Thanksgiving was the most special one I've ever had, mostly because Gian Luca and I live far from my family and friends it was so nice going home to see them. And even though it had been five months since we'd seen them, everything thing felt as though we never left which made me realize that, no matter how far away we go, our hearts are always connected to those we love. I feel so thankful and blessed to have so much love around me.
Since this is a food blog, I have to say that I've never met a better chef than my mother.
My aunts in Italy are a close second, and my brother Luciano who owns his own restaurant isn't too bad either, but still my mom takes the cake (and makes it too). So, of course, on holidays she really shines. And even though she and my dad recently moved into a new house, and this was her first Thanksgiving cooking in a new kitchen, she really out did herself.

My mom is used to cooking for restaurants so serving a family is easy for her. While some people stress over Thanksgiving preparations, she enjoys every minute of it. Fourteen people had dinner at our house that day and everyone left with doggie bags filled with enough food for the next few days.
She made:
Bread: Cranberry Walnut loaf, Corn Bread, and Rosemary and Sea Salt Breadsticks
Appetizers: Sauteed Shrimp Scampi, mini Crabcakes in Filo dough
Salads: Radicchio and shaved fennel salad with a white wine viniagrette
Entree: Turkey and gravy
Sides: Twice Baked Potatoes, Candied sweet potatoes, Sausage stuffing, String beans with garlic and fresh mint, Sauteed Broccoli rape, homemade cranberry sauce
Desserts: Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, Blueberry Pie, Chocolate chip cookies, Biscotti di Prato, Ricerelli di Siena, Amaretti Cookies

My Aunt Angela brought a delicious Grape and Gorgonzola Focaccia and my sister- in- law Christine brought over my favorite, a coconut custard pie. My cookies were a big hit as well.
Needless to say, we were all stuffed by the end of the day.

I promise some recipes soon, especially the rosemary and sea salt breadsticks which have been a family favorite since the 80's.

Countdown to Turkey

2009-11-25T15:30:00.003-06:00

I am so excited to go home for Thanksgiving but I'm not excited to pack our bags, then wake up at 2:30 am to get to the airport for our early morning flight. As I walked home from work I started making a mental list of all the packing we have to do, and all the things that we can't forget to bring, and by the time I unlocked my door, I had a headache. So I reached for my instant cure, a rich dark espresso and a fresh baked cookie.
As I sipped my coffee I realized that, wow, my holiday weekend has officially started! And the anxiety of packing and traveling melted away. Then came the excitement.

As I mentioned yesterday, I have no patience, so I expect the next 24 hours until Thanksgiving dinner will feel like years, but I just keep reminding myself that soon we will get to see my parents and brothers and best friends. And tomorrow night, we'll all be munching on the cookies that I baked last night.

So before packing anything else, I packed up the cookies. Nothing else really matters anyway.

Chocolate Sparkle Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart
The recipe calls for sanding sugar, but I used regular sugar, which is slightly finer and worked just as well.

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup ( 2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp.
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
sanding sugar for dusting

1. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, coffee powder and salt into a bowl

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. Reduce speed and gradually add flour mixture; beat to combine. Form dough into a flattened disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

3. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll each ball in sugar. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. bake until set, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Rum Raisin Shortbread
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Remember those butter cookie assortments that used to come in those tin cans. My favorites were always the round cookies with the little raisin bits in them. Last night, when I munched on one of these I realized that is exactly what these taste like. Only better.

1/2 cup dark rum
1 cup currants
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon course salt

1. Combine rum and currants in an airtight container; let sit at room temp overnight. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of the rum.

2.Put butter, confectioners sugar and zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and reserved rum. Beat well, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, coconut and salt. Beat for three minutes. Stir in currants by hand. Divide dough in half and form each half into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter; wrap in parchment, and refrigerate for 1 hour ( or up to 3 days).

3. Preheat oven to 325 degree F. Remove dough from parchment paper; slice into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Place on parchment lined baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake until pale golden, about 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for up to 1 week.

Just can't wait

2009-11-24T22:51:00.002-06:00

I've never been known for patience. It is a virtue that I would love to possess, but, unfortunately, I don't have an ounce of it. And every year, right around this time, I start itching for Christmas.
I know that Thanksgiving has not even passed yet, and that the unofficial Christmas season has not begun, and the official Christmas season does not start until Sunday. I know all of this, but yet, I just can't wait. So tonight, I got a jump start on Christmas cookies and baked three batches that I'll bring to NJ when we go there on Thursday morning for Thanksgiving.
It was so exciting to have our apartment smell of warm baked cookies, and even more exciting to see them cooling on wire racks on the kitchen table. I almost turned on some Christmas tunes, but restrained myself ( until next week at least). Of course, the best part of baking cookies is taking that first bite, and obviously, I don't wait for them to cool.

Here's one recipe for now, you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the other two. A little patience will do you good ( or so I'm told).

Biscuit Sandwich Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread

1. Put flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and plus to combine. Add butter and pulse to form course crumbs. With the machine running, pour in 1/4 cup heavy cream and the vanilla and process until dough almost comes together.

2. Remove dough from food processor and bring together on a work surface. Roll dough between two floured sheets of parchment paper until 1/16 inch thick. Using 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut 36 circles, rerolling the scraps as necessary. Place rounds on parchment-lined baking sheets and transfer to freezer to chill until firm, about 15 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 325 degree F/ Combine egg yolk and remaining tablespoon of heavy cream in a small bowl. Brush the tops of cookies with yolk mixture and bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

4. Spread 1 heaving teaspoon of chocolate-hazelnut spread on the undersides of half of the cookies. Sandwich the remaining cookies. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.

Easy Pear-Raisin Scones

2009-11-23T23:52:00.005-06:00

It's almost Thanksgiving!! This year I have so much to be thankful for considering I got married, started this blog, have been given the opportunity to finish my book, the fact that my family is happy and healthy, and that we are all coming together for Thanksgiving and then again for Christmas. As the year winds down I'm reflecting on all of these big things, and feel a great sense of gratitude.
Its easy to see the big things we are thankful for, but, if we look at our daily lives there are many many occasions to give thanks. One simple thing I am thankful for is the fact that my husband and I eat breakfast together every morning.
I've always been a breakfast person, even when it consisted of grabbing a cereal bar and running out the door. But since I got married, I've become a huge fan of breakfast as it is a simple way that Gian Luca and I connect before we start our hectic days.

Consequently, I also love baking breakfast foods, and thankfully, my husband is Italian and is used to eating pastries in the morning. So tomorrow when the shiny beams of light flutter through our kitchen window, we'll be sipping our espresso and munching on Pear and Raisin scones.

Pear-Raisin Scones
3/4 cup of raisins
1 cup heavy cream
3 medium pears ( peeled and cut into cubes)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons butter ( cut in 1/2 squares)
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Soak the raisins in heavy cream for 1/2 hour, drain and set aside, reserving heavy cream. Toss pears with cinnamon and sugar, set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Add butter and, using your hands, crumble the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a course meal ( this can also be done in a food processor by pulsing the butter into the flour mixture).
Combine the egg and heavy cream and whisk together until incorporated. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing well. The dough will now be fairly wet and sticky. Add the pears and raisins and knead on a lightly floured surface until the dough just comes together. It should be a bit sticky.

Cut dough into 14 small wedges and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

enjoy!

Veal Champagne

2009-11-16T17:15:00.003-06:00

The biggest testament to a successful dinner party are the dishes. If everyone liked the food, you won't have to scrape the plates clean before washing them. And, on Saturday night I was pleased to stack the dirty dishes on my counter top, avoiding the cross-kitchen trip the the trash can, because our party was a success.
I told already told you my menu of lasagna, veal champagne, and chocolate cake, and I promised you the veal recipe. This will have everyone licking their plates clean. In fact, I don't even have a picture of the veal for you because it was dished out so fast that I forgot to photograph it.
enjoy!

Veal Champagne

4 veal cutlets ( pounded thin)
1/2 cup of flour ( for dredging the veal)
12 button mushrooms sliced
1 15 oz can of artichoke hearts
1/2 cup dry champagne
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of olive oil.
salt and pepper to taste

Dredge veal in flour and heat olive oil in the pan. Add 2 teaspoons of butter to the oil and sautee the veal until golden brown on both sides. ( this should take 1-2 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the veal). Remove the veal from the pan and add the rest of the butter to it. Add the sliced mushrooms and artichokes and sautee until mushrooms are golden brown. Place veal back in the pan with the mushrooms and artichokes. Add the champagne and allow it to simmer for a few minutes. Add the cream*, salt and pepper, and allow everything to simmer until the sauce has thickened. Serve and enjoy.

* if making this dish ahead of time, leave out the cream until you are ready to serve it. When you are ready to serve the veal reheat the pan and add a bit more champagne. Add the cream and allow to simmer until the sauce has thickened.

A Chocolate Cake for Friends

2009-11-14T09:57:00.003-06:00

So it has been 10 days since I last posted, even though I signed on for the National Blog Posting Month and was supposed to write 30 posts in 30 days. Don't worry, I'm not going to post 10 times today. I am just going to explain that, while I wanted to post every day, my life interceded: work got hectic, I devoted all of my writing time to working on my book, and honestly, I haven't cooked that much.
But today I'm back, and revved up for a fantastic day of cooking. We are hosting a dinner party for some friends tonight and the menu is stocked. I'm making my sausage lasagna, veal with artichokes and mushrooms in a champagne cream sauce ( I'll post the recipe tomorrow), a fresh tomato and cucumber salad, and finally, a dense delicious chocolate cake.
My mom taught me to always, always bake dessert first. Even when she teaches her cooking classes, she uses this method. So last night, after a ten hour shift at work, and late-night grocery shopping at the 24 hour store, I baked a cake for my friends.
Even though I was so tired, there is something reviving about baking a cake that you know people will enjoy. And although my day will be filled with cooking and cleaning, I know that at 7:30 when our friends arrive, it will all be worth it.

Dense Chocolate Cake:
Adopted from Molly Wizenberg
* I made one slight change by adding a tablespoon of instant coffee to the batter to intensify the chocolate flavor. Besides that, this is taken directly from her amazing book, A Homemade Life. If you haven't read it yet, get it ASAP!

7 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder 5 large eggs 1 tablespoon flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and butter an 8 inch round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter that too.
Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl. I used a double-boiler for this, but you can also melt it in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl. Just be careful not to burn the chocolate.
When the mixture is smooth add the sugar and coffee powder, stirring well to incorporate. Set batter aside to cool for 5 minutes. Then add the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition. Add the flour and stir to mix well. The batter should be dark and silky.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for about 25 minutes until the top of the cake is lightly cracked and the center looks set.
Remove the cake from the oven and set on cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Carefully turn it out of the pan and then flip it onto a serving plate, so that the crackly side faces up. The cake is fairly delicate so this is a bit tricky, but Molly gives great advice on how to do this:
Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the pan, and place a large, flat plate, ( not the serving plate) on top of the foil, facing down. Hold the cake pan and plate firmly together and quickly, carefully, flip them. The pan should now be on top of the plate, with the foil between them. Remove the pan, revealing the cake, which is now upside down. Remove the parchment paper. Place the serving plate gently atop the cake. Wedging your index fingers between the plates to keep them from squishing the cake, flip them so that the cake is now right side up. Remove the foil.
Serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Double Header part 2

2009-11-04T21:53:00.004-06:00

I promised two blog entries in one night so here goes. Tonight, Gian Luca cooked me dinner. It was so nice to have him in the kitchen, cooking Penne all' Amatriciana. It reminded me of the first time we made the dish together. Here's a story about it... Enjoy!

I like to think that I am a great cook, that I’ve inherited this innate talent from my mother, but the truth is, I need a lot of practice. This is problematic because when people learn of my upbringing they expect me to know how to cook Gnocchi alla Fiorentina, or Chicken alla Zingera. But the fact is that, even though my mother opened an Italian restaurant when I was seven, and I was literally raised in the kitchen, I spent most of my time sitting in the dry storage room playing with my Barbie dolls. Once I became old enough to learn how to cook, I decided that I’d rather waitress, so I left the kitchen for the adventures in the dining room. Though I’d collected many stories, I never really learned to cook.
I managed just fine in college. I knew the basic how-tos of cooking, and at the very least, I was able to make edible food. Most of my friends at the time were accustomed to living off of boxed macaroni and cheese and instant ramen noodles, so anything above those was a step in the right direction.
By the time I finished grad school I had mastered a few dishes. The kitchen in my New York apartment was barely the size of a closet, but I resisted take out and cooked myself dinner on a daily basis, and even managing to replicate my mother’s Pizza Rustica for Easter.
The year after, I found myself living back at my parents’ house in South Jersey. I gladly surrendered all cooking responsibilities to my mother and didn’t give it a second thought until I met Gian Luca.
I had recently become friends with a group of Italians who were all working at U Penn. There was Luca from Prato, Enea from Padova, Franscesa from Milan and Michelle who was raised in Singapore but spent summers on Lake Como. We met at Penn every Tuesday for dinner and discussion. Sometimes we would cook in someone’s small apartment, other times we frequented New Deck, a local bar for burgers and fries.
That particular Tuesday I was running late and had just parked my car at 7:30, our designated meet up time. I sprinted across campus, trying not to slip on the thin layer of snow that was quickly accumulating on the ground. I was breathless by the time I reached the second floor of the building. That was when I saw him first, standing in the doorway of the room, wearing an oversized coat, speaking quick fluid Italian with Luca. I was staring.
“Hi” he said looking at me and extending his hand. “I’m Gian Luca.”
“Piacere, sono Antonietta,” I said trying to speak Italian.
“Ah, you’re Italian?” He said in English.
“Well, I’m Italian- American,” I replied feeling paralyzed.
That night, for dinner we all went to New Deck and I managed to steal a seat across from him. I just couldn’t stop staring. I knew logically that we had never met, but I couldn’t rid myself of the feeling that I knew him from somewhere.
We ordered Burgers and Fries. Everything else at the bar was mediocre, but their burgers were thick and juicy and the fries were double fried, leaving them with a crunchy coating, perfect for dipping in ketchup.
I picked up the Heinz bottle and shook it violently, the loosened the cap and allowed the red river to flood a corner of my plate. This time he was staring at me.
“What?” I asked him smiling and hoping that no one else would interrupt.
“That is disgusting,” he replied and laughed.
My heart sank. “What is disgusting?” I said indignantly. I dipped my fry in ketchup and took a bite.
“That,” he pointed at my ketchup. “Try this.” He slid a cup of mayonnaise across the table. “It is so much better with your fries.”
I hated mayonnaise; the thought of it made me sick. “No, that is okay. I like ketchup better.”
“Trust me, you must try it,” he said inching the cup of white lard in front of me and smiling.
Reluctantly, I grabbed a fry and dipped the tip in the mayo. He watched as I took a bite. It was actually a lot better than ketchup.
By the time I got home I was smitten.
“Mom,” I squealed with the zeal of a star-struck teen. “I met the man I’m going to marry.”
“Well then you are going to have to learn how to cook.”
Of course, with every subject, there is a learning curve, and mine, however small, was still blaringly evident.
I considered myself more advanced than the average cook. Although I never cooked in the restaurant, I was sure that simply being around food so much had ingrained some recipes in my brain. This confidence was my hubris.
For our next dinner, I wanted to impress. Gian Luca had mentioned that he loved Chicken Picatta, so the entrée choice was obvious. But I chose to make profiteroles for dessert, thinking that the fluffy puffs of pastry would surely win him over.
Given my lack of experience, it was obvious that I needed help. My mom had recently developed a passion for desserts and made profiteroles on a daily basis for the restaurant. She was happy to assist.
Together, we melted equal parts butter and flour in a saucepan.
“Stir it until it is all combined,” she instructed. “Then flatten the sides against the pan until it sizzles.”
Once the flour and butter mixture looked like greasy dough, we removed it from the heat, let it cool, and slowly added eggs, one at a time.
“The trick to profiteroles is the oven,” my mom said. “You have to watch them very closely.”
She was right. After fifteen minutes at 400 degrees, we lowered the oven and watched them puff. When they were finished, each one was the size of a small fist, with a golden crust on top. As they cooled I made a chocolate sauce with condensed milk and bitter sweet chocolate.
An hour later I was driving across the Ben Franklin Bridge, confident that I would win Gian Luca’s heart.

“Did he like the profiteroles?” My mom asked as soon as she heard the door unlock.
“Not really,” I said removing my coat and sitting at the table. I had watched intently as he took small bites, eventually leaving half of the pastry on his plate, allowing the ice cream inside to melt into a thick white puddle. Earlier, I had burned myself while cooking an unsuccessful Chicken Piccatta. Michele had wowed everyone with creamy bowtie pasta with salmon and spinach, next to which my mediocre chicken did not shine. The profiteroles were going to be my saving grace, my wow factor. Instead, they ended up being devoured by everyone except the one person I wanted to impress.
Slowly, I was learning about his palate. This was a man who despised ketchup and dipped his fries in mayo; a man who came from the most famous wine village in Tuscany; a man who was not impressed by complex desserts, but loved Philly Cheese Steaks from street vendors. I was up for the challenge.
I began watching my mother each night, asking questions as she effortlessly created amazing meals. “Cooking is simple,” she’d say. “You just have to feel it.”
Dinners with my friends continued, and since I was the only one who did not live in Philadelphia, I always offered to bring different things that I could cook ahead of time. I was successful in preparing bruschetta in New Jersey and assembling it in a small city kitchen hours later. I made focaccia, frittata, brownies, bunt cake, flourishing in appetizers and desserts, things that could be prepared ahead of time and served at room temperature or even cold. I would arrive and act as if I had just whipped something up, while in reality I had spent hours planning and preparing dishes. My friends always enjoyed my creativity, and sometimes after eating, I would catch Gian Luca staring at me. My heart fluttered with hope.
Almost six months after the profiterole disaster, Gian Luca emailed me about a dinner party he wanted to throw. His research position was ending and he would be returning to Italy. This would be his one last dinner party before moving out of the city. He emailed me for help.
I promptly emailed back, offering my culinary expertise, which, at this time, he was clearly impressed by. Still, I was a little nervous. I had yet to execute an entire dinner menu from start to finish. I was good on the start, and also the finish, but the pesky in-between, the main course, was still a rough spot.
We decided on a simple crowd pleaser for the main course: Penne all’Amatriciana. A favorite in small taverns in Rome, this delicious mix of crispy pancetta, sweet caramelized onions and juicy plumb tomatoes would be the perfect dish for the final dinner in Gian Luca’s West Philadelphia home.
The apartment was tiny and the kitchen even more so. The studio was part of the university housing and was one step above the dorm room I had my freshman year of college in New York. The main difference between the two was that Gian Luca’s apartment had a tiny kitchenette nestled into one corner. The building housed around one hundred students, most of whom seemed to be home at around 6:30 when we began cooking.
Our friends were coming over at 7:30, leaving us just enough time to cook a non-fuss meal. I did not make menu cards or waste time with a fancy setting; we would be lucky if everyone had a chair to sit on. The water for the pasta was already on the stove and while we waited for it to boil, I started cutting radicchio for the bruschetta. Gian Luca sliced the bread and placed it on a baking sheet. Into the oven went our bread to crisp and we began slicing the ingredients for the Amatriciana sauce. Gian Luca took the pancetta while I worked on cutting the tomatoes and onions into long strips.
I was nervous. There were times that I though he was interested in me, other times when I was convinced we would never excel beyond friendship. I feared that he would go back to Italy and we would communicate a few times a year through mass emails.
By seven, the radicchio bruschetta was finished and we were prepped to make the Amatriciana sauce. Though I had never actually made the dish, I had seen my mother make it so many times that I was confident in the process. The first step is to cook the pancetta until it crisps. Since the meat is fatty, there is no need to put oil in the pan, you just dump the pancetta in and turn up the heat. That is exactly what we did.
We watched the meat stirring it occasionally. We waited. And waited. And waited. We couldn’t proceed with the sauce until the pancetta was crispy; soggy pancetta is fatty and tough, not what we wanted to serve our guests, so we had no choice but to allow it to cook.
An awkward silence passed between us. “Maybe we should cover the pan,” I suggested. He agreed.
As Gian Luca reached to grab a lid I reveled in my brilliance. I covered the pan and lowered the heat just a bit, sure that the pancetta would crisp quickly. We moved to set the table and spent a little too much time averting glances and pondering whether or not we were falling in love.
He smelled the smoke first. “Is something burning?” he asked.
“The pancetta!” I squealed, running towards the stove and turning it off. I lifted the lid and was met by a monstrous cloud of smoke. The pancetta was not just burned; it was welded to the bottom of pan.
Even though the heat was off, smoke continued to rise from the pan. We knew enough not to run water over it, but we were not sure what to do with the waste.
Gian Luca had an idea. “The toilet,” he said between coughs. He grabbed the handle of the pan and walked it over to the bathroom, his arm extended to its furthest reach to distance him self from the smoke. I heard a sizzle as the burnt meat met the water in the toilet bowl. Instantly, there was more smoke.
It was May and the small window in the apartment that was already open was doing nothing to assuage the smoke. After a few minutes, the smoke detector started to beep. I rushed to open the door, thinking that the cross wind would provide us some relief.
The alarm continued to sound.
I jumped on a chair and tried pushing buttons on the detector. When that did not work, I began fanning the smoke away from it with my hands. This only enhanced the alarm. Soon the main alarms in the building started blaring and the lights in the hallway blinked as if there really was an emergency.
We looked at each other nervously. We saw his neighbors beginning to evacuate and I had the urge to tell them all to stay in their rooms.
“There’s no emergency, I was just cooking!” I wanted to scream, but thought better of it when I saw the look of embarrassment on Gian Luca’s face. My heart sank.
“What should we do?” I asked.
“I guess we should leave,” he said. He walked over to the stove and turned off all of the burners.
Slowly, we left the building, walking with our heads down, lightly fanning ourselves in an attempt to get rid of the lingering smell of burning pork fat that nailed us as the culprits.
Outside, crowds of people were gathered on the sidewalk. Some were already in their pajamas; others were still carrying their backpacks.
It was seven-twenty five, our friends would arrive to find us in the middle of the crowd, and we’d have to explain ourselves.
The distant sound of fire engines grew stronger. Gian Luca and I both looked at each other. I could tell he was disappointed. I had ruined his dinner party. How could I have made such a horrible culinary mistake? I fought back the tears.
“Hey,” he said, placing his hand on my lower back. “Don’t be sad. This will just end up being one of our stories.”
I looked at him and smiled. The smoke had cleared.
He was right, it is.

A double header, part 1

2009-11-04T17:49:00.003-06:00

I know, I know. I already sort of failed my National Blog Month challenge, sort of. See the challenge only said we had to write 30 posts in 30 days and technically, I still can. So tonight I have a double header for you, the first, cooked by me, and the second, in a few hours, by Gian Luca.
So here goes- Part 1.

My friend Jann is one of the many people who are allergic to gluten. Almost everyday at the restaurant a customer asks what items can be made without gluten and surprisingly there are lots. Yet, it is still difficult for people with gluten intolerance to have a warm comforting meal, and it is especially difficult to have pasta.
The other day Jann asked me for some gluten-free recipes and, being Italian, I thought I'd never come up with any. But as I scanned the isle of the supermarket on Sunday, I saw Spaghetti Squash and remembered the savory satisfying flavor. This would be perfect for Jann, since its consistency is very similar to spaghetti and can be topped with sauce and cheese. I opted to play up the spicy autumn flavors of the squash by pairing it with Andouille sausage. Even Gian Luca, who could eat pasta every night, loved the dish.

Spaghetti Squash with Andouille Sausage

1 Spaghetti Squash
1 medium andouille sausage ( or spanish chorizo)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp chopped italian parsely
salt and pepper to taste
grated pecorino romano (optional)

Cut squash in half length-wise and remove the seeds. Place cut side down in a large pot in 2 inches of water. Cover and bring to boil, allowing the steam to cook the squash for 20 minutes. Drain and let cool.
Once cool, scrape the insides of the squash with a fork. The pulp with come off in spaghetti-like strands, hence the name.

Place pulp in a bowl and add butter, oil, salt and pepper. Toss until coated

Slice sausage in diagonally cut 1/2" pieces. Heat in non-stick skillet or grill pan.

Place spaghetti squash on dish and top with the sausage. Sprinkle with pecorino romano cheese and fresh parsley.
Enjoy!

See you tonight for part 2!

When all else fails

2009-11-02T21:55:00.003-06:00

It's only day two and I'm already realizing that this daily blogging is going to be a challenge.
One of the best things about writing a food blog is that I can choose to write only when I want, leaving out the culinary train-wrecks that happen every so often. But since I pledged to blog everyday, you're going to get to know the real me, disasters and all.

So here's the truth, I was supposed to make Chicken with Lemon and Capers for dinner. I planned everything this morning and even remembered to pull two chicken breasts out of the freezer to defrost them before I went to work. I placed the chicken in a bowl in the sink and left the house, forgetting that Mondays are my day to work late. It was only when I got home at 6:30 that I remembered that the chicken had been sitting in the sink for eight hours, and our apartment is no ice-box. Needless to say, we didn't have chicken for dinner.

Instead, I made a pasta dish that was probably worse than the rotten chicken. The only saving grace came at the end of the meal, when Gian Luca reached in the cabinet and pulled out the Nutella.
One taste of the creamy, chocolate hazelnut spread smeared over pieces of toast and we forgot all about the culinary mishaps of the day. I suggest you pick up a jar and keep it on hand, for when all else fails.

It All Starts There

2009-11-01T23:19:00.002-06:00

I’m always up for a challenge. Inspired by Ashley of Not Without Salt, I’m undertaking my biggest blog challenge yet, the National Blog Writing Month. The mission: 30 entries in 30 days. That means that on top of working, revising my novel, and cooking, I’ll be posting everyday in November. I hope you’ll stick with me!

So first things first: I needed to stock up for a full week of cooking. And that required a trip to the supermarket because really, it all starts there.

Since I was a kid the supermarket has been one of my favorite places, probably because going for groceries was always an event. When my mom opened the restaurant, my dad took over as household shopper, and, of course, I was his assistant. Though our trips always took place on Saturdays, the real work started on Sunday, when we’d sit at the kitchen table, clipping coupons from the Sunday paper. We weren’t as organized as some people, with their coupon files and grocery lists, instead, our coupons went into a kitchen drawer and, come Saturday, half were forgotten at home. It didn’t matter though, because our essentials, the meats, cheeses and vegetables, always came from the restaurant. Our groceries consisted of the fun stuff, the juice boxes and cupcakes we would take to school; the sweet smelling shampoo; a different box of cereal for each kid, and various bottles of sodas. The trips would always start with the consumption of a chocolate and toffee candy bar, and we’d graze progressively, sampling grapes from the produce isle or thinly sliced prosciutto from the deli, laughing the entire time.

I still feel the magic when I walk through the automatic doors of a supermarket, but now I realize that the entrancement is not with the actual store, but with the endless possibilities lurking in each isle. Usually, I shop without a list and wander through the store, dreaming up different things make for Gian Luca, usually picking up a treat or two along the way, just like when I was a kid.
See you tomorrow!

A Trick and A Treat

2009-10-30T06:54:00.003-06:00

A Trick:
I was a weird kid. I always always always ate my veggies. Its not that I was super obedient or anything like that, no, I just really loved the taste ( I still do). But I know that not every kid is like me, and normally parents have to sneak in veggies in any way shape or form.

Now of course, just because I liked veggies doesn't mean I was a healthy eater; I loved my desserts so much that I once polished off an entire tub of Cool-Whip when my mom was not looking ( Ugh, I don't even like to think about that!). So, I understand the mentality of a kid, especially during Halloween time, when veggies are the last thing on their minds.
I also understand the mentality of a parent who wants her child to eat healthy. The solution: trick 'em!
These carrot cake cookies pack in enough nutrients that you can almost forget the sugar involved. Almost.

And A Treat:
Remember the joy of Halloween? Besides the fact that you can dress up and pretend to be someone new, you get free candy just by going and knocking on someone's door. But my favorite part of Halloween was always, in the evenings, when we got home and divided up the loot.
I learned quickly that, being the youngest of five had some drawbacks, one of which occurred every Halloween, when we'd dump our pillowcases full of candy on the floor and separate it into three piles: The throw-aways, the middle-men, and the untouchables. The throw-aways were always chalky candies like Necco-Wafers, or waxy things like those little bottles filled with juice. The middle-men were usually fruity candy, things like Starburst and Twizzlers that I liked, but didn't mind sharing. Then there was the Untouchables.

The untouchables were our favorites, the candy that we would not share, and the ones, unfortunately, that my brothers would often steal. For me, these were always chocolate, the mightiest of all being anything with chocolate and mint. Next in line would be chocolate and peanut butter, mostly Reese's Peanut Butter cups, which are the inspiration, and the key ingredient to Peanut Butter Cupcakes, which are the perfect treat for Halloween parties, or any time really.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Carrot Cake Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart Cookies

1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Creme cheese Frosting ( recipe follows)

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy ( 3-4 mins). Add eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well combined.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Gradually add four mixture to butter mixture, stirring well to incorporate. Mix in oats, carrots, raisins and nuts. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shape tablespoons of dough into balls and place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake until browned and crisp, 12-15 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Spread about 2 teaspoons of frosting until the flat sides of half of the cookies. Sandwich together with the remaining cookies.

Cookies can be refrigerated in airtight containers up to 3 days.
Creme Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick of butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla.

Place cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, beat cream cheese until smooth, Gradually add butter and continue beating until well blended. Sift in confectioners sugar and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla and stir to combine.

Peanut Butter Cups:
Adapted from Pillsbury: Complete Book of Baking

1 3/4 cups flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
24 mini-Reese's Peanut Butter Cups ( unwrapped)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper baking cups.
In a large bowl combine all ingredients except Peanut Butter cups. Mix at a low speed until incorporated then beat for 2 minutes at a medium speed.
Fill paper lined muffin cups 2/3 way full. Press a peanut butter cup into the batter until the top edge is even with the batter.
Bake for 18-24 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched.
Yield: 24 cupcakes

A Triumph

2009-10-27T20:49:00.006-06:00

Ever have one of those days that just works? Today was that kind of day for me. After endless days of rain, we woke up to sunshine ( well, actually we woke up before sunrise but once it came out, it was shining non-stop). And when I got out of work it was still shining.

It was too nice to go right to my bus stop so I walked around Downtown Minneapolis for a while, basking in the crisp fall weather and thought about those apples that are resting on our porch and how I wanted to try a new cake. So I headed to the library to browse through old cookbooks.
I checked out the Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking and as I rode the bus to Gian Luca's lab I narrowed down the options for tonight's cake. In the end, he picked out the recipe for Apple Streusel Coffee Cake.

As I walked home at 5 pm I soaked in the various reds, yellows, and oranges of fall, stopping to notice the little flowers that are still around.

Then I went home, opened the book, turned on some Italian rock music and baked. It was so simple, like I had made the cake 1,000 times. And, while it was in the oven, I even cooked dinner. Its these little culinary triumphs that make this blog writing so fun.

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake
Adapted from Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking
Coffee Cake:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons plain yogurt
3 medium apples (peeled and thinly sliced)

For the Topping:
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat 1/4 cup butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and blend well. Alternately add the dry ingredients and yogurt to sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Spread batter in prepared pan; arrange apple slices over batter.

In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients except butter. Using a fork, cut in 2 tablespoons of butter until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Apple picking and a recipe

2009-10-21T19:31:00.014-06:00

After being home bound for 6 days straight, I needed to go out. So on Sunday Gian Luca took me to Minnesota Harvest, an orchard in Jordan Minnesota.
We couldn't have asked for a better day to pick our Haralson, Fireside, Regent, and Connell Reds. The sun was shining, the air was crisp, and the entire world screamed autumn.
From the smoky smell of fire in the lodge, to the taste of sweet apple cider donuts, it was the perfect apple picking experience, and a first for both of us here in Minnesota.

Throughout the day Gian Luca recounted stories of picking apples off trees in his hometown of Montepulciano, Tuscany. I couldn't help feeling a little envious of his past. Not that I didn't pick fruit in the garden state. The summers in New Jersey led my family to the farms for fresh tomatoes, strawberry picking and the world's largest blueberry festival, but autumn always fell short.
I'm sure there are apple orchards in New Jersey, but I've never been to one. I vaguely remember "pumpkin picking" which consisted of taking a hay ride around a school parking lot and selecting a pre-picked pumpkin from the piles. Those days always ended with fresh apple cider and warm apple-cider donuts but the experience always felt a bit fake. Sunday was the real deal; we even rode horses around the orchards.

After our ride, we were left to graze the orchards and pick our apples. We ran through the fields like two little kids, and yes, I actually skipped for a bit. Gian Luca climbed the trees to get the good apples and we laughed all the way back to the lodge where we sampled cider and ate our donuts, baked fresh just minutes before.

We came home with ten pounds of apples just waiting to be baked into delicious treats.
And of course, my first instinct was to make muffins. ( I just love a good muffin for breakfast!)

Apple Bran Muffins:

1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup apple cider
1 egg
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

2 large apples, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Toss apples with cinnamon and sugar, set aside
Mix together wheat bran and milk; let stand for 10 minutes.
Beat together oil, apple cider, egg, brown sugar and vanilla and add to milk/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, until just blended. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

A Hearty Lentil Soup

2009-10-14T15:59:00.013-06:00

There are few things more comforting than a nice hearty bowl of soup. And, it is when we are sick that we need the most comfort. I would know, because since Monday I've been battling the flu. Yes, that flu, the one that everyone is scared of, the one that I thought I wouldn't get. But honestly, it hasn't been too bad ( I must have a mild case of it).
Basically, since Monday I have been hibernating in my apartment, alternating my time between the bed and what I like to call "my sick chair", which is one of our kitchen chairs with a blanket on the seat and a pillow on its back for extra cushioning. My head has been aching too much to read or write so I've been filling up on Bravo's reality TV and sleep. To make matters worse, Gian Luca has been away at a conference in St. Louis, so its been me, myself, and I spending quality time with the remote. Oh yeah, and it snowed all day on Monday. Isn't this October?
Luckily, I didn't have to worry about cooking, since I made Chicken Soup last week and had a bountiful supply in the freezer. So my cooking these past three days has been as simple as hitting the defrost button on the microwave. But tonight, all that has changed.I was feeling a little better this afternoon and I finished the last of my chicken soup for lunch, so I decided to make a nice hearty lentil soup that would make the entire apartment smell delicious for when Gian Luca arrives home tonight.
I played with what I had in the fridge to make this chunky variation of an old favorite, and so this soup came out more like a combination of Minestrone and Lentil soup. And since I had some Canadian Bacon in the fridge I threw that in too. Why not, right?
The minute that I smelled the leeks and bacon simmering together I began feeling better. Now, I won't say that this soup will magically cure my flu, but it sure did provide some much needed comfort on this chilly afternoon.

Hearty Lentil Soup

1/4 cup olive oil
2 leeks ( white parts only, finely chopped)
3oz Canadian Bacon ( cubed)
2 celery stalks (finely chopped)
2 carrots (finely chopped)
1 medium potato (finely chopped)
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup Italian Parsely (finely chopped)
1 (16 oz) bag of lentils
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken stock
3 qts water ( approx)

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium flame. Add the leeks and Canadian Bacon and simmer until the leeks are translucent (about 7 minutes) Add the celery, carrots and potato and let simmer for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining ingredients, making sure that liquid is two inches above the vegetables. Simmer for one hour, or until all of the vegetables/lentils are tender and the liquid has reduced a bit. Stir occasionally.
Top with pecorino romano cheese and a drop of olive oil. Enjoy!

This will keep in the fridge for 3 days or can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Darling Chocolate Chip Muffins

2009-10-09T16:55:00.006-06:00

Last night my writing teacher called the first chapter of my novel "darling" and today I've basked in the loveliness of the word.
The entire world seemed darling today, starting with the vibrant sunlight that beamed through the windows of our apartment, to the yellow and orange leaves that crunched under my feet as I walked home, to finally the little chocolate-chip muffins I made this afternoon.
It seems that I am in a muffin mood lately, baking two different batches this week alone. But the truth is that I just realized we had muffin pans in the house. And really, the are so darling.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
3 large eggs
1/2 t vanilla (optional)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate-chips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper cups. Set aside. Fold the chocolate chips in a tablespoons of flour ( this will prevent them from sinking). Set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl, mix the sugar, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Mix in the oil.
Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing until just combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill each cup 2/3 of the way full.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack until completely cool.
Enjoy!

Shredded Wheat Blackberry Muffins

2009-10-05T20:16:00.008-06:00

I hate throwing away food. Even when I ruin a recipe I'll try to salvage the food so as not to waste it. So every time I open my cabinet and see the bright orange box of shredded wheat staring at me, I feel a pang of guilt. I want to throw it away, but I just can't. There is nothing wrong with the cereal, I just don't like it. I bought it on a whim, figuring it would be a nice healthy way to start my day; instead, it tasted a bit like straw.
Since I simply can't throw the stuff out, I figured I'd try to bake with it. I did a quick google search and came up with a few promising recipes. I tweaked them a little and came up with Shredded Wheat Blackberry Muffins. Surprisingly, these muffins are moist and cakey. No straw-like texture here. Gian Luca didn't even believe I put some cereal in there. So the shredded wheat can stay!

Shredded Wheat Blackberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon for topping
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups crushed shredded wheat
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup blackberries ( fresh or frozen)*
1 tbsp. lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add in crushed cereal. Add egg, milk and oil and stir until fully incorporated. Fold in the blackberries, lemon juice and lemon . Line a 12 muffin pan with cupcake liners ( or grease the pan). Fill each cup 2/3 full. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a little bit of sugar. Bake on middle rack for 18-25 minutes* ( this may take slightly longer if using frozen berries). The tops of the muffins should be golden brown. Cool in muffin pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: 12 medium muffins

Chicken soup: a two for one

2009-10-04T21:18:00.011-06:00

So far, October has been good to us. Despite the non-stop rain, we had an amazing weekend, largely because of my brother Joey, who came to visit. During his stay, we consumed so much food, hitting up five of our favorite restaurants in just three days. We all woke up this morning feeling full and a bit tired of eating. But, as it always happens, the more you eat, the more hungry you get, so as Joey hit the road again, heading for Denver, I got in my car and headed for the grocery store.
It's not only been raining these past few days, its also been cold. I don't mean a little October chill either, I mean frosted fingers and purple lips cold. And when its like this the only thing I want to eat is soup.
I think every culture has a great chicken soup recipe, but of course, I favor the Italian version that I grew up with. Since Italians like to have a first and second course, our chicken was always served separately from the soup, making the dinner last twice as long and feel twice as satisfying. Who wouldn't want to get two dishes out of one easy pot?]
So tonight, its a two for one. Brodo con Pastina and Chicken with Salsa Verde. Enjoy!

Brodo con Pastina
for the Chicken Broth:
4 chicken thighs ( with bone and skin on)
4 stalks of celery ( with leaves), cut into quarters
2 carrots peeled and cut into quarters
1 small potato, peeled
1 small onion, cut into quarters
1 roma tomato
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large stockpot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer on medium heat for 2 hours.
Remove from heat. Strain the chicken and veggies, set aside for later.
( this will yield 3 quarts of chicken stock, which can be stored in the fridge for 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month)

for the pastina:
1/4 cup of acini de pepe, ( or orzo)
3 cups water.
1 teaspoon of salt

Bring salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook for 8 minutes. Strain and add the pasta to your chicken broth.
Top with pecorino romano cheese and enjoy.

Salsa Verde
1 bunch Italian parsley
8 basil leaves
3 anchovies ( packed in olive oil)
1 teaspoon of capers
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 boiled potato ( from soup)

Blend first seven ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Mash the potato into the sauce with a fork until smooth.
Serve this sauce with the boiled chicken and veggies from the soup.

The best apple cake

2009-09-28T20:34:00.012-06:00

Last night we had Gian Luca's labmates and their wives/ girlfriends over for dinner. As I said before, I have been so busy this week ( and I still am) but I love the fact that, even when we are crazy busy, we invite people over for dinner.
Still, we needed to keep it fairly simple (no homemade lasagna this time). But I just can't invite people over and not bake something.
See, if I had to choose between cooking or baking I'd 100% choose baking as my preference. There is just something about mixing ingredients together and popping them in the oven.
I even love the waiting, as it usually allows me to chat with friends on the phone. Then there's the smell of sweets wafting through the apartment, waiting for them to cool and finally, the pay big off. I always said that if I were to change careers I'd love to open up a bakery. Who knows... maybe some day. But for now, I have my family and friends to bake for. So yesterday afternoon, that is exactly what I did.
My mom called as I was peeling the apples for this cake, and it turns out that she was making the exact same cake for a friend's birthday. It makes sense that she was making this particular cake because it is the best apple cake I've ever tried. I can't even describe how moist it is. You're just going to have to bake it and see for yourself.

The best apple cake

5-6 medium apples, cored, peeled, and sliced to 1/8" thickness
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar + 1/2 cup for the apples
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a tube pan. Set aside

Place the sliced apples in a bowl and mix with 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Beat the eggs and remaining sugar until well incorporated. Add the veg oil, orange juice and vanilla. Mix well.
Sift together flour and baking powder. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing well. Pour 1/2 of the batter into the prepared tube pan. Layer 1/2 of the sliced apples on top of the batter. Cover with remaining batter and top with remaining apples.
Bake on middle rack for 45 minutes or until tester comes out clean* Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream ( if desired).

* My oven is funny so I bake this at 350 degrees for 25 minutes then lower the heat to 325 and bake for another 35 minutes.

a quick one

2009-09-23T22:48:00.001-06:00

Uffi, this week has been pretty hectic, and the next couple days will be even more so. But it's all hectic in the best way as I've been working hard and having fun in the meantime.

Even amidst all the chaos, sometimes I just need to bake something. But today it had to be quick.
So while the baking time on this Marble Loaf Cake* is actually pretty long, the prep time ( or the actual time spent working on it was really fast).

I also took advantage of the long baking time as an excuse to sit in front of my computer and sketch out the structure of my novel. Yay!

Oh, by the way, Happy Autumn!

* From Food and Wine Magazine

If you know me

2009-09-19T23:26:00.002-06:00

I have big dreams. If you know me, you already know that. You also know that I'm pretty good at setting a goal and getting things accomplished. You remember grad school, managing a restaurant, moving to Manhattan, then to Rome, because you were there with me. And you were also there when I got what I wanted and it wasn't at all what I expected. So you stayed with me while I cried through my entire first year of teaching, then again, two years later, when I left the job. And you listened, even when my dreams seemed outlandish, like when I came home the night of meeting Gian Luca and swooned that " I want to marry that man!"
But I have a secret. None of these accomplishments are mine. I did not create them and they would not be possible if it weren't for others. Yes, if it weren't for God and the team of people who support and love me unconditionally then I would have nothing.
See, if you know me you know that there is one thing that I still haven't crossed off my list. Yep, that pesky book I started, oh three years ago has had enough time to rest. Oddly enough, it does center around food, though when I started writing it I had no intentions of ever starting a food blog. Its just that my mom was roasting these tomatoes, and smelling them, a story came into my head. So I wrote it down. Now, 220 pages later, I need to clean it up. I'm giving myself 12 weeks to finish revising it and I need your help.
So, I implore you, if you know me, please, please help kick my butt( and if you don't know me but feel like you do, you can help too!). Ask me if I did my work, make me feel guilty, or best yet, send me a comment to keep me on track.
I can't promise I'll succeed, but with your help, I know I'll try.

A repeat offender

2009-09-15T21:10:00.009-06:00

I know what your thinking... another pasta dish. But I promised I'd cook something else and I did. We're off of pasta ( at least for tonight).
I'm not accustomed to eating the same thing every night. I'm not saying that I don't eat leftovers, I actually really love them, but if I'm cooking I'll never cook the same thing two days in a row. I don't even like repeating flavors. Its just not my style. So today I was surprised when, midway through cooking, I reached for the oregano.
I hardly ever use the herb. In fact, I bought the little jar months ago when Gian Luca wanted to make his Mariottini Pizza. And after that night, it sat on our shelf until yesterday. But there was something about the soft aroma that rose up from that pan and lingered in the kitchen. I wanted more.
So tonight, I reached for it again, and sprinkled it liberally on some fresh cod and potatoes before popping them in the oven.
Once again, I wandered through the apartment savoring the aroma of oregano.

Baked Cod with Potatoes

4 medium cod filets
4 large potatoes
1 cup marinara sauce
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Blanch potatoes in boiling salted water until soft but still a bit firm. Drain and slice into 1/8" rounds.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cover the bottom of a medium baking dish with a thin layer of marinara sauce. Layer the cod and potatoes in the dish. Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil. Place a bit more marinara sauce on top.
Bake for 15-18 minutes.

A southern girl

2009-09-14T21:28:00.014-06:00

I realize that all I've been cooking lately is pasta, and that all of my recent posts have been based on pasta. It's not that I'm uninspired, I'd love to cook something else. But the truth is, Gian Luca has this huge deadline and basically he's been living in the lab. We've either been eating out quickly at campus restaurants, or eating on the lounge tables in the Science Library. So it's not that I don't want to cook, I just feel weird eating multiple courses while college students stare hungrily at us as they walk by. And pasta travels well. So, here's another one, I promise I'll cook something else soon.
Tonight's pasta was not thrown together, but rather, inspired by a dish that my mom used to make for the take-out section of her restaurant. She called it Sicilian Eggplant Casserole, although I am not quite sure why. Basically it was sliced eggplant, tomatoes, onions and dried black olives, drizzled with olive oil and oregano and baked in the oven. It was fabulous, but I'm not sure if it is authentically Sicilian.
My mother has never been to Sicily ( either have I). And honestly, I will probably never go there. I have nothing against Sicily, and I'm sure its amazingly beautiful, but frankly, I'm tired of defending other parts of Southern Italy.
My family is from the south and I am proud to be a southern girl. But the first thing people say when I tell them that we're from Southern Italy is, "Oh, Sicily?" Soon enough, I'm explaining that no, my family is not from Sicily, we are from Basilicata.

Basilicata is the small, almost forgotten region of Italy about 6 hours south of Rome. I always tell people that it is the arch of Italy's boot. It is bordered by the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas and the Apennines mountains run right through the center of the region. Its two major cities, Potenza and Matera are slowly gaining tourism but, besides that, the region has not been explored by many Americans. But that's ok. I like that fact that I've been places that not too many others have been. My mom's town, Salandra, is pretty much my favorite place on earth (and, by the way, the setting of my novel-in-progress). The sunset in Salandra

Ok, sorry for the tangent. Back to the pasta. I was craving my mother's Sicilian Eggplant Casserole ( authentic or not) so I created a pasta dish inspired by it. Enjoy!

Sicilian Eggplant Pasta

1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 of one medium eggplant, cut in 1/8" cubes
4 Roma tomatoes finely diced
1/2 cup dried black olives
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup ricotta salata ( or feta cheese)

Cook pasta in boiling salted water.
As the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and tomatoes and saute until the onions are translucent and the tomatoes have softened and start to break up. Add the diced eggplant, black olives, red pepper flakes, oregano, and salt and pepper. Stir and add one ladle ( about 1/2 cup) of the pasta water. Cover and allow the sauce to simmer for a few minutes. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss.
Top with ricotta salata, or feta cheese.

The best thing

2009-09-13T17:24:00.011-06:00

The best thing about being in the restaurant business, and the only reason why all the long hours are worth it, is getting to share food with people. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing people enjoy a good meal. My mother realized this even before opening her restaurant, and opted for an open kitchen, so she could see be part of her guests' dining experience.

As a manager in Stone Harbor for six years, I have the privilege of overseeing the dining room seven days a week from mid June to early September, and in those months I saw many many happy guests. Luckily for us, most of our customers are regulars, and in a seasonal restaurant, it is a joy to see people come back each summer, to see how families have grown, how people have changed and yet, stayed the same. Through time, most of our regulars have become our friends. And, since eating together is really a familiar experience, some friends have become like family.

One of the great things about regular customers is that they've tried everything on the menu and nine out of ten times, have selected their favorites. Some people order the same thing so often that we've begun to associate certain dishes with certain people, so much so that when Luciano gets a ticket in the kitchen, he knows who its for without having to be told.

Even now, in my own kitchen, I cannot cook a dish without thinking of the person who loves it the most. And so, this morning, when I began making meatballs I thought of my friend Pete.

Pete and his wife Joanne are regulars at Luciano's and they usually come in with their friends Phil and Tony. From the first summer that we were open, the four of them were outgoing and comforting to me, especially when the restaurant was packed and I would run around like a mad woman, bussing tables, greeting guests, answering the phones and making sure that everyone is ok. They'd cheer me on, send me smiles from across the room, and offer me a glass of wine when I finally had a moment to breathe.Through the years we've become really good friends and as I mentioned before, good friends are just like family. So always, when I would see their names on the reservation sheet, I would make sure that Luciano had enough meatballs in stock.
Though we don't even technically have meatballs on the menu ( they are served with our ravioli) Pete has been ordering them since day one. He even mentioned them on my wedding video, which made me laugh. He really loves them and I don't blame him; they're that good. Just like mama makes, because, well, my mama does make them. And now so do I. And hopefully, after they read this blog, so will Pete and Joanne. That way he won't have to wait until next summer for a juicy bite.

Meatballs:

Roll up your sleeves for these because you need to use your hands!

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground veal
1 pound ground pork
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
2 gloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together until thoroughly incorporated. Roll meat into a small, tight ball using the palms of your hands ( some people use a small ice cream scoop to get meatballs that are all the same size). Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until fully browned and cooked through.

These go great with my meat sauce

Just one of those nights

2009-09-12T22:11:00.004-06:00

Occasionally, when Gian Luca comes home for dinner I'll look at him and say "you're either gonna love tonight's dinner or you're gonna hate it." There is no in between on nights like this, when I take a risk, mix ingredients that normally would not go together, or improvise on a recipe. Tonight was one of those nights, only instead of sitting in our kitchen, I'd packed up my experiment and took it to Gian Luca's lab.
He's been working non-stop on a huge deadline, but we'd planned to have dinner together. By the time I started thinking about cooking tonight it was already eight, and Gian Luca had called me in need of a break. I quickly threw some things together, crossed my fingers and prayed that it would work.
So when I met him tonight, and gave him my line, he smiled. Nine out of ten times he loves it, but, like I said, there is no in between so when a recipe fails, it tanks. Thankfully, tonight's dinner did not. It was a hit. We ate penne with peas and walnuts, out of plastic containers in the study lounge of the lab and it couldn't have been better.

Penne with Peas and Walnuts
4 cups of penne pasta
1/2 cup onions ( finely chopped)
2 cups of peas ( fresh or frozen)
1 cup walnuts ( finely chopped)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
3 tablespoons grana padano cheese ( finely grated)
salt and pepper to taste.

Cook pasta in salted, boiling water.
While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a medium saucepan and sautee onions until they become translucent. Add peas a small ladle ( about 1/2 cup) of the salted pasta water. Cook until peas are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss pasta in the saucepan and add the walnuts. With the heat still on, add the butter and allow it to melt. Sprinkle with cheese before serving.

Still Holding On

2009-09-08T07:21:00.006-06:00

I can't accept that summer is over. No, I just won't. And technically, it is not over for another 2 1/2 weeks, so I can keep holding on to these long sunny days and cool summer nights. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. You never know in Minnesota. I might start snowing tomorrow.
But it's not snowing now and it didn't snow yesterday, so I seized the opportunity for a picnic at the lake with some friends.

If there's one thing that defines summer for me, it is tomatoes. And since I can't bear to let the season go, I figured that I'd make the entire house smell like sweet summer. It was easy. I just threw some cherry tomatoes in the oven, turned up the heat and basked in the aroma.

Besides smelling great, these tomatoes are delicious, and tossed in a pasta salad made each bite taste like sunshine. Hours later, when I returned, the smell was still lingering, like those last few rays of sun before the end of the day.

Roasted Tomatoes
2 cartons of cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Wash tomatoes and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with oregano and olive oil. Place in oven for 30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta Salad
1 box of pasta ( I used Rotini because it is my favorite shape for pasta salad)
2 cartons of Roasted Cherry tomatoes
8 oz ciliegine ( fresh mozzarella)
1 cups fresh basil
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook pasta in boiling salted water. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.
Blend the basil and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a mixer to a rough chop ( you still want to be able to see some leaves of basil).
Place roasted tomatoes in a large mixing bowl. Place the cooled pasta on top. Top with the basil and remaining oil. Toss until all the pasta is coated. Add the ciliegine, salt, and pepper. Toss and serve.
serves 4-6

A Moment of Disbelief

2009-09-05T08:31:00.005-06:00

I can not believe it is almost Labor Day and I still have not written about Ristorante Luciano, the restaurant at the Jersey Shore that my brother Luciano and I opened seven summers ago. Maybe its because I am so far away and this is the first summer that I have not worked in the restaurant since it opened. Or maybe it is because I cannot find the words to accurately describe the place that changed my life seven years ago and has shaped nearly all of the decisions that I've made since then.
I suppose that all a writer can do is try, and so, here is my humble attempt at describing the opening of a restaurant.
The story really begins sixteen years before we opened the doors of Ristorante Luciano, when I was seven and Luciano was nine. We didn't know then that one day we'd be business partners, or that we'd even be in the restaurant business. The only thing we knew for certain at the time was that my mother was opening a restaurant and we were not happy about it.
But eventually, we began enjoying the restaurant. The two of us would spend time in the kitchen next to our mom. Luciano had the cool jobs, like frying slices of eggplant in the deep fryer, while I got stuck doing the jobs that no one wanted to do like snapping string beans and grating mozzarella. Still we had fun; we were two kids playing restaurant in a real restaurant.
As we got older, we had more formidable roles in the restaurant. My brother took on the part of sous-chef and learned all of my mom's secrets while I followed my dad around the dining room, learning how to work a crowd with finesse.
Then, during my last year of college in New York City, while I was trying to juggle two jobs and grad school applications, I got a phone call from Luciano. "We're opening a restaurant in Stone Harbor," he said. "And you're the new manager." It was April. I was graduating in May.
For the previous four summers we ran a small take out restaurant in Ventnor, New Jersey, a little town near Atlantic City. Luciano cooked while I answered the phone, took orders and cleans the four tables in the place. We did well together, so it was no surprise that we'd expand. I just never though it would happen so quickly.
Though I was slightly nervous, I took on the manager role with full force. My first move was to check out every restaurant management book that I could get my hands on. I began interviewing waiters and waitresses and, in the most serendipitous circumstances interviewed my future best friend ( but that's a whole different story). By graduation day I had hired almost my entire staff of employees, most of them college students like myself. While I was telecommuting as manager from New York, Luciano was building the restaurant piece by piece, laying in Tuscan style tiles on the floor and thick rustic stones in the wall.
Soon it was the night before opening and we were finishing up the last minutes details. The waiters had been trained, the kitchen prepped, the dining room set. At about three am, as we were locking up to go home, we looked at each other in disbelief. We were opening a restaurant...

Italian/ Spanish Food

2009-08-31T07:30:00.007-06:00

As I mentioned before, Gian Luca and I love tapas. Last week, as we were eating at Solera, we both commented that we could probably make tapas at home. So yesterday, we tried.
I bought Gian Luca a tapas cookbook for his birthday and browsing through we realized that Italian food is very similar to Spanish food. One easy similarity we found were tostadas, or as we say in Italian, bruschetta.
Traditional bruschetta is actually just toasted bread with fresh garlic rubbed right on it, though the most popular version of bruschetta is done with diced tomatoes, garlic and basil. Today, we see more and more variations of bruschetta and why not, I mean, who doesn't love toasted bread topped with delicious ingredients.
Obviously, the Spanish love this too because they have a variety of Tostadas in their repertoire.

Gian Luca and I made two kinds: one with prosciutto and gorgonzola ( a trend in our kitchen nowadays) and the other with porcini mushrooms and mozzarella. As we were eating we both agreed that these easy crowd pleasers would be great for large cocktail parties. Now if we only had a bigger apartment...

Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Bruschetta
8 slices long thin crusty bread ( we used a bagette)
8 slices of Prosciutto
8 teaspoons of gorgonzola
extra virgin olive oil.

Place bread on a baking sheet and grill under the broiler for 5 minutes ( flipping the bread over once while cooking). Drizzle olive oil over the hot bread.
Top with prosciutto. Place a teaspoon of gorgonzola on each piece of bread. Fold the prosciutto over the cheese. Place under the broiler for 3 minutes.
Serve warm.
Serves 4

Porcini Mushroom and Mozzarella Bruschetta.
8 slices of long thin crispy bread
1 cup dried porcini mushrooms ( Chopped)
1 1/2 cups button mushrooms( chopped)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
1 clove of garlic, chopped
7 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in 1/2 cup of water for 30 minutes. Strain and set aside.
Place bread on a baking sheet and grill under the broiler for 5 minutes ( flipping the bread over once while cooking). Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over the hot bread. Set aside.

Heat 5 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add garlic and sautee until golden.
Add chopped all the mushrooms to the oil and cook until all the oil is absorbed. ( about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and spoon the mushrooms on top of the grilled bread. Sprinkle with parsley and mozzarella. Place under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes ( or until cheese gets golden brown). Serve warm.
Serves 4

Ode to a Fig

2009-08-29T11:20:00.010-06:00

When I was a teacher I'd have my Creative Writing students write odes as an early exercise in description. We'd read many examples from famous writers, including the master of odes, Pablo Neruda, who wrote tributes to just about everything. So this morning, I was shocked to find that he did not write an ode to a fig.
I can only conclude that the Nobel Laureate could not find the words to describe such a delicacy. Or maybe he was too busy eating the ancient fruit to worry about writing about it.

I won't try to create poetry here, but I will say that there is no fruit that I love more than a fig. The fruit itself is plump and round and hangs in abundance on its tree.

Cut in half, it reminds me of a Van Gogh painting, with its tiny swirls reaching toward the sky. The neutral flavor works well with sweet or savory dishes; it pairs amazingly with cheese and honey, or prosciutto, like we had the other night.

The other thing that I love about figs is that they ripen at towards the end of summer, signifying the sweet transition into the crispness of fall. It's no wonder that the Italian slang for cool ( like a cool guy) is Fico, or fig.

Figs Wrapped in Prosciutto

8 fresh figs
4 slices of prosciutto
4 teaspoons of gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Place vinegar in a small saucepan over low heat until reduced to a thick syrup ( this should take about 5 minutes).
Cut an X in each fig ( but don't cut all the way through). Add 1/2 teaspoon of cheese into each fig. Cut the prosciutto in half lengthwise and wrap it around the fig.
Drizzle with the balsamic reduction.
Serves 4

A Girly Girl

2009-08-26T15:07:00.005-06:00

I have four older brothers so growing up I could have gone one of two ways: I either could have been a tom-boy, playing street hockey with my brothers, or I could have been a girly girl, constantly wearing a dress, or more accurately, a tu-tu.
As you can guess by the name of this post, I was the latter. Yes, at any point during my childhood you would have found me ballet dancing around my bright pink bedroom, playing with my mother's make-up or teasing my hair. And though I've grown up, I still have an affinity for high heels, dresses and all things that make me feel like a woman.

Tonight, I am getting together with some people from my writers' group, and since we're predominantly female, I've made Zuccarini, the girliest cookies around.
These Italian sugar cookies are topped with lemon butter cream and mounds of flaky shredded coconut which reminds me of taffeta.

My mother always made these cookies especially for me, and as I was icing these last night, I thought of the last time we made them together.
On the night before my bridal shower my mom, mother-in-law, best friend and I all sat at my mother's kitchen table, icing these cookies and laughing. Even though I was alone in my kitchen yesterday, I felt connected to these women who are so monumental in my life.

So the next time you are getting together with your girlfriends, whip a batch of these up. I guarantee everyone will love them.

Zuccarini

1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup of sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons of baking powder
3 1/2 color cups flour

for the icing:
3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick of butter ( softened)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons milk

1 bag of shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Cream the butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time. Beat well. Add the vanilla and mix well. Slowly add in the flour and baking powder. Mix until incorporated. Drop teaspoons of dough onto a greased cookie sheet two inches apart. Bake for 6 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly golden. Place on a cooling rack.

For the icing:
Mix powdered sugar, lemon, butter and milk together in a large bowl until smooth. At this point you can divide the icing into a few separate bowls and add food coloring into each bowl. My mother usually makes one pink bowl of icing and one pale green. She leaves the last one white for a nice array of color. I like mine all white, like little snowballs.
Ice cookies and top with shredded coconut.
Place cookies in an air tight container and they will last 4 days.
You can also freeze the cookies in an air tight container and defrost them at room temp two hours before serving. ( or you can eat them frozen like I do).

Lift Me Up

2009-08-24T16:51:00.011-06:00

I am not a fan of Tiramisu, but it is my husband's favorite cake, and since yesterday was his birthday, I planned a little surprise which involved secret phone calls, emails, lies, liquor runs and driving twelve miles for some cookies. Let me explain.
Gian Luca loves having people over so it was only natural that I invite some friends over to share the tiramisu, but planning a surprise for the person who lives in the same house as you is extremely difficult ( especially when you live in a one bedroom apartment). I sent a few secret emails to our friends and prayed that no one would leak.

To make matters worse, you cannot buy alcohol in Minneapolis on Sundays. So on Saturday I needed an excuse to go out and buy some. I arrived home with a brown paper bag, holding the rum needed for the cake, and a bottle of Prosecco, which I quickly stashed under the bed.

Thankfully, Gian Luca had to work in his lab on Sunday, giving me enough time to make the cake. But first I needed the dry lady fingers or Savoiardi cookies which were impossible to find in any of the four supermarkets that I went to. One cashier gave me a lead about an Italian specialty store in St. Paul which might have them. I plugged the address into my GPS, buckled my seat belt, and headed out for the drive.

Twelve miles and a few wrong turns later, I was at Cossetta's buying my Savoiardi, mascarpone cheese and two bottles of my favorite bitter Italian soda Sanbitters ( I deserved them!).

Back at home I assembled the Tiramisu, covered it and let it rest in the fridge.
When our friends arrived at 8:30 Gian Luca was so surprised.

Tiramisu literally means "lift me up" probably due to its creamy center or the soft pillows of whip cream piled on top. But to me, the most uplifting thing about this easy no bake dessert was seeing the smile on Gian Luca's face when I placed the tray in front of him. Mission accomplished.

Tiramisu
( This is my mother's recipe and the same one that she serves in the restaurant)

16 oz Mascarpone cheese
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
4tbsp powdered sugar
1 bag (24 ) savoiardi cookies (dry Italian Lady fingers) ( you can also substitute from fresh lady fingers if you cannot find the dried)
1 shot (4 oz) rum
1/2 cup cold water
3 shots of espresso coffee
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Put Rum, espresso and cold water into a bowl for dipping. Soak half savoiardi in the mixture for a moment and layer on the bottom of an 8X8 baking dish. Set aside.
Beat egg yolks and granulated sugar together until the mixture is bright yellow. Add mascarpone cheese and stir to incorporate. Don't over beat. Pour half of the mixture on top of the lady fingers and use a rubber spatula to smooth it out. Soak the rest of the savoiardi and layer on top of the mascarpone cream. Cover with the rest of the mascarpone. Set aside
Beat heavy cream and powdered sugar together until whipped. Put in a pastry bag ( or zip lock bag with the end cut off) and squeeze on top of the tiramisu in a decorative way ( I like making little pillows). Sprinkle cocoa powder on top. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours.
Serves six

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

2009-08-22T09:44:00.005-06:00

Picture the scene: its 10:30 pm and I am about to start baking cookies when (gasp) I realize I only have two sticks of butter in the fridge. I already promised to make Chocolate- Chip cookies and Lemon cookies for a BBQ tomorrow. I have three options: 1) make only one batch, 2) go to the 24 hour grocery store in the sketchy part of town, or 3) improvise.
Of course, I choose option 3.
I did a quick scan of the fridge and saw that I had the two sticks of butter, crisco, sour cream, plain yogurt, eggs, and 1/2 a lemon. My pantry was stocked with everything I needed to bake: four, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla. So I thought for sure I'd be able to come up with something.
Working off of the recipe on the chocolate chips bag, I modified a few things, took a deep breath, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. The result: the most moist chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten. These babies are like little cakes! So light and fluffy.

For batch #2 I promised to make lemon cookies, so I adjusted the recipe a bit, added some honey and lemon zest and made little lemony pillows which Gian Luca loved. We had to restrain ourselves from eating too many. After all, it was midnight when I finished baking.

The recipes:
Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cookies:

Ingredients
1 stick salted butter, softened
1 tbsp crisco ( or other vegetable shortening)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets and set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, shortening and sugars together until light and fluffy. ( you can do this with a mixer or by hand). Add the egg, and vanilla extract; beat until well blended. Add the sour cream and yogurt and fold together until well blended. Stir in the four mixture until fully incorporated. Add the chocolate chip and stir.

Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake on middle rack for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cooling surface.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Honey Lemon Sour Cream Cookies

Ingredients
1 stick salted butter, softened
1 tbsp crisco ( or other vegetable shortening)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1 egg
Zest of 1/2 of a lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets and set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, shortening, sugars and honey together until light and fluffy (you can do this with a mixer or by hand). Add the egg, and vanilla extract; beat until well blended. Add the sour cream,yogurt and lemon zest and fold together until well blended. Stir in the four mixture until fully incorporated.

Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake on middle rack for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cooling surface.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

A Hole in My Umbrella

2009-08-20T21:12:00.002-06:00

It's been raining in Minneapolis for two days and as I walked home from work this afternoon a steady drip tapped me on the head despite the fact that I had an umbrella. By the time I arrived at my house the bottoms of my jeans were soaked, my shoulders only slightly less so.
But I had big plans for dinner.
I stopped by the farmers' market on my way home and bought four Japanese eggplants and six ruby red beets. Inspired by two fabulous bloggers who wrote about beets this week, I wanted to roast mine in the oven and eventually toss them with mixed greens in oil and balsamic vinegar. Since the oven would already be on, I planned to stuff the eggplant with ground turkey meatballs and bake them until golden. Nothing would be better on a damp night.
Things don't always go as planned.
Instead, I pulled the beets too early and they are hard and taste like dirt ( probably because I didn't scrub long enough) and Gian Luca and I are both mildly scared that we will wake up with food poisoning from the slightly undercooked turkey ( after an hour of baking you'd think it would be cooked).
Walking home rain-soaked I should have planned a different menu; one that involves dialing a number and letting someone else do the work.
But oh well. There is always tomorrow to try again. I'm hopeful, even if there is rain in the forecast.

Lasagna: Layering it to make a finished product

2009-08-17T07:20:00.002-06:00

The final step to making lasagna is by far the most satisfying, because you can see it finally come together.
If you are organized and place all of your ingredients out in front of you, you can layer the lasagna while cooking your pasta. As I said before, the pasta cooks very quickly, so if you do decide to multi-task with this, you have to work quickly.

I like to add sausage to the lasagna so before layering it ( usually around the same time that I make the besciamella sauce, I sautee 1 lb of Italian sausage in a small frying pan. You don't need to put any oil in the pan, just remove the sausage from its casing and turn up the heat. Every once in a while break up the sausage with a wooden spoon, so that you get small crumbles as a final result. You want the pieces nice and brown and fully cooked.

Once everything is set you are almost ready to start layering. I usually place the sauces and sausage in separate bowls and have my baking pan all ready to go.

First, place a small layer of meat sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. This will prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom. Place one layer of cold pasta in the dish, cover with meat sauce, besciamella, and a thin layer of sausage, top with another layer of pasta and repeat the steps until the baking dish is full.

If you are going to freeze the lasagna do so at this point ( before baking the lasagna).

preheat oven to 400 degrees
Place the baking dish on a sheet pan ( sometimes the sauce leaks out during cooking) and put them in the oven. Bake for 35 minutes. Add a layer of grated mozzarella cheese to the top of the lasagna. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Cut and enjoy!

Lasagna: Making the Pasta

2009-08-16T15:20:00.006-06:00

Making homemade pasta is quite therapeutic. If you like to cook, you simply must try it.
The lasagna requires ultra thin layers of pasta, so while my grandmother used to roll it out with a rolling pin, I prefer to use a pasta roller. Kitchen Aid now makes a pasta attachment for their mixer but I still like my little table-top roller, which allows me to control the dough and get a little arm workout at the same time.
But before we start rolling it out, we need to actually make the dough.
Here goes:

3 cups of flour
2 large eggs
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp water

On a clean work surface, form a well with the flour. Crack the eggs into the well and add the salt. With one hand only crush the egg yolks and begin incorporating flour from the inner part of the well. ( this will prevent the egg from spilling out onto your work surface) Once the egg is incorporated with the flour use both hands to add the rest of the flour. Knead the dough together until you have a slightly dry ball. The dough should not stick to your hands at this point. If it is too dry, add the water and knead a bit more. Cover the ball with a large bowl and clean off your work station. Once clean, add a bit more flour to the surface so you can begin rolling out the dough.

Cut 1/8 of the dough off of the ball. Cover the rest with the bowl again. Squeeze dough in your hands to form an oval shape. Feed the oval in the pasta roller on setting one. If the pasta is too sticky dust with flour. Roll the pasta through settings 1-6. After setting six you should have a fairly long sheet of pasta. Cut this into smaller sheets, about 8 inches long. lay these on a floured surface, making sure that they do not touch each other. Repeat for all of the dough.

While rolling out the dough, bring a large stockpot full of water to boil. Add 2 tbsp salt and a glug of olive oil to the water.

Once the pasta has been rolled out add a few sheets to the boiling water. The pasta cooks very quickly ( about 2 minutes) and will float to the surface when done. Set a bowl of cold water in the sink and add the pasta to the water to stop the cooking process. Leave the pasta in the cold water until it is layered in the lasagna.

Lasagna: The first steps

2009-08-16T14:49:00.003-06:00

On Friday we had a dinner party and earlier in the week, I had decided to make lasagna for it. My lasagna, which is really my mom's lasagna, is not just dinner; it is an event. And though it is all made from scratch and a bit time consuming, it is really very simple to make. It can also be made ahead of time and frozen for up to a month, making it perfect for dinner parties ( especially work night dinner parties).

The first step to lasagna is to make the sauce.
For this particular version of lasagna we need two sauces: Meat sauce and Besciamella sauce. The recipes are exactly the right amount to make a large lasagna ( for 8 hungry people).
We'll start with the meat sauce ( which, incidentally is actually vegetarian, but, meat can be added for a more robust flavor).

Meat Sauce:
2 28oz cans of tomato puree
1 small onion
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
1/4 cup of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves ( chopped)

Finely chop the onion, carrot and celery ( this can be done in a food processor).
Heat olive oil in a large stockpot and add the onion, carrot and celery. Cook until golden, stirring occasionally. ( This should take 3-4 minutes).
Add the tomato puree plus one can of water per can of tomato ( just fill the can after adding the puree to the stockpot and add the water).
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer on medium heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Add basil to the sauce and allow to cool before using it in the lasagna.

yields 8 servings

The sauce will keep in the fridge for 4 days and can be frozen for up to 6 months. I always keep some in freezer.
If you like Bolognese sauce or Ragu, just saute some ground meat until brown and add to the sauce.

Besciamella Sauce

This sauce is slightly more involved but don't worry, its worth it. I usually make this sauce the same day that I am making the lasagna because it tends to thicken and doesn't keep well in the fridge.

1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup of flour
2 cups of warm milk
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Warm milk and set aside.
Melt butter in a medium stockpot. Add flour and stir together to form a rue ( this allows the flour to "cook" so the sauce will not be clumpy).
Add warm milk and nutmeg and stir slowly until thick. ( try to stir the milk in only one direction). Once thick, add the cheese, salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate. Remove from heat and set aside.

The sauce will tend to thicken as it cools. If it is too thick, add some pasta water when you start cooking the pasta.

Happy Birthday

2009-08-10T15:46:00.007-06:00

Today is my Dad’s 75th birthday and though we are not able to go to New Jersey to celebrate with him, I figured I’d pay him tribute with a little blog entry.

If you’ve been reading, you know that my dad is quirky. He cooks Italian Style Hot dogs and can belt out any operatic tune on demand. He has a roaring laugh and a warm smile. His heart is as big as it gets; he is always willing to give himself fully to others, and with five children that is no small feat. Even though we are all adults now, we still go to him for help.

My dad also has a few vices, both of which he has passed down to me. He loves salt and coffee. When I was a child, he’d reach for the salt-shaker, stating “There’s not enough salt in the Siberian salt mines to satisfy me,” and I’d laugh and nod along, shaking salt onto my plate with a heavy hand. It drove my mother crazy.

His second vice, good strong espresso, is one that both my brother Joey and I have inherited. Joey takes it to a whole new level, drinking seven to ten espressos per day. Like my dad, I cap myself off at three.

Before getting married, I had the pleasure of moving back into my parents’ house. Moving home as an adult has all kinds of implications, but, to me, the experience was invaluable. I got to enjoy my parents as adults and as friends. Like with my other friends, most of our laughs we shared over coffee.

I was teaching high school English at the time, so I needed all the caffeine I could get. I’d wake up at 5:30 am to get to work by 7, brewing the ten-cup espresso pot so that when my parents woke up, the espresso was already waiting for them.

At around 4pm my dad would announce, “I just made coffee” when he heard me at the door. We’d have our second cups together recounting the events of the day.

Finally, after dinner, I would brew the third pot, pouring myself a strait one while my dad reached for anisette and made his corretto.
So today, even though I am not with my dad, I brewed myself an afternoon pot, poured myself a cup, and picked up the phone to hear about his day.

How to make an Italian Espresso
( you don't need to go to Starbucks anymore)

You can make Italian Espresso even without a fancy machine. Most people in Italy make espresso at home with a stove top espresso maker. There are many different brands out there, but I like a Bialetti for its dependability, and exceptional quality.

Once you have the espresso maker, actually making the coffee is simple. Just fill the bottom of the maker with cold water until it reaches the steam valve, place the funnel into the bottom and fill it with espresso ground coffee*. Screw on the top and place the maker on the stove top on medium heat. Depending on the size of the maker coffee will be ready in 3-5 minutes. You'll know when its done because the entire top will fill with delicious espresso and your kitchen will smell better than Starbucks.

* There are many different types of espresso sold in supermarkets today. Some popular brands are LaVazza, Illy, or, my favorite, Cafe Bustelo

Orange Polenta Cake

2009-08-09T14:44:00.005-06:00

I admit it, I have no willpower. I do try, but every morning, as Gian Luca is eating his moist plump scone slathered with Nutella, I can't help but want a bite. Or two.
But, the reality is, I'm not supposed to eat sugar (I'm hypoglycemic) and despite the desserts that I sneak once in a while, I have to forgo the sweet start to the day.

Breakfast is always a challenge. I'm a big fan of oatmeal, but its August for God's sake, and I just can't stomach another warm bowl. I've tried to make homemade sugar free granola bars but without butter or sugar they come out like think horse feed. I don't do sugar substitutes because I just don't like the artificial taste, and I can't really have white flour either. Is there anything I can eat? I just want something semi-sweet that my husband and I can both dunk into our coffee in the morning.

I think I nailed it.
We both love oranges and polenta, so why not use them in a cake? I tweaked a recipe by Mario Batali to suit my no-sugar needs and it actually tastes great. I can't wait to dunk it into tomorrow morning's coffee.

Orange Polenta Cake

makes 6-8 servings

2 large oranges
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup Agave syrup ( or substitute 1 cup sugar)
1 cup corn meal
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch round cake pan with a drop of olive oil. Set aside.

Using a grater, zest both oranges. Juice the oranges and place in the same bowl as the zests. Add the olive oil and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and salt until frothy and light ( about 2 minutes). Slowly beat in agave ( or sugar) and continue beating for two minutes.

Sift the flour and baking soda together. Add to cornmeal and slowly add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Stir to incorporate. Fold in the citrus zest mixture until incorporated.
Pour into greased pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool to room temperature.

Eating Like Italians

2009-08-08T23:31:00.000-06:00

Today we ate lunch like Italians (possibly because two of the three people eating actually are Italians). Our two hour- long meal began with pasta at 2 pm. The table was set with a lime green linen tablecloth and large plates rested under shallow bowls. These plates were not under liners. They would be used for the next course: roasted pork with grilled onions, broccoli rabe and roasted potatoes. If that was not enough, a bowl of fresh peaches and apricots rested at the end of our large table. Ice cream waited in the freezer.
We paced ourselves through the ravioli and approached the meat with the endurance of marathon runners. But by the time I ate half a peach I became the runner who stops short, clutching her side and collapsing in a chair. The boys plowed ahead. After the fruit, they tackled espressos which rejuvenated them for dessert. They shoveled through big bowls of the ice cream, licking their spoons at the end.
By nine pm my stomach was once again growling (though I did not expect it to). Gian Luca felt the same way, so we decided on having a light dinner. We called Stefano (our friend who arrived from Italy yesterday) because we figured that he didn’t have any food in his apartment. He came over and we settled around the table for round two.
This time Gian Luca cooked a broccoli and onion frittata, I made arugula and gorgonzola salad and Stefano cut the bread. It smelled so good that we couldn’t wait to sit down and eat. (Which is why there are no pictures again today—Sorry!).
After dinner the boys sang traditional Italian songs and, for a moment, I thought I was once again living in Rome.
Speaking of Rome, tomorrow we are invited to our friend Silvia’s “Pesto Party”. Silvia is from the eternal city and settled here about five years ago. Who knew there were so many Italians in Minneapolis?
Anyway, I just finished baking a dark chocolate and orange cake to bring tomorrow. I promise a recipe, pictures and a posting!

On Tenderness

2009-08-07T20:22:00.004-06:00

I was on the bus today and I saw the most tender scene. A mother was feeding her little daughter from a bottle. The girl must have been nearly two, maybe a bit too old to be eating from a bottle, but I am a bad judge of age, especially since I could not see the baby's face. In fact, from where I was sitting, the only thing I could see of her was the tiny doll she held in her arms.
I was struck by the doll, mostly because of the scene. Here was a child so young that her mother was feeding her, yet she clutched the doll like it was her own child. In essence, this child felt the same intrinsic need as her mother: to care for another.
Of course, for me, caring for people always comes by way of food. It is just how I was raised. You cannot enter into my mother's house without being offered something to eat. My aunts are the same way. Whenever I go to Italy to visit them I avoid bringing my skinny pants, because I know that I will be force fed until even my biggest pair are a bit snug.
I used to scoff at this force feeding, but now I see that behind all the food is a message of love. Food is a means of transporting this love into tangible terms. A way to connect with others and to give yourself to them.
This weekend we are entertaining a guest from Italy. He arrived this afternoon and tonight, for the sake of time, we went out for pizza. But I am already planning tomorrow's menu, so that even though he is thousands of miles away from home, he will feel welcome at our table.

Yay for Tapas

2009-08-02T21:01:00.003-06:00

I am a sucker for Tapas, mostly because I love eating a variety of different foods and picking at small plates between sips of wine. If I could always eat that way I'd be a happy girl. Knowing this, my brother Luciano took me to the award winning Tapas bar, Amada for my birthday last April. Shortly after, my friends took me to Bar Ferdinand, a Philadelphia favorite for my Bachelorette party. Besides the vast array of food, I got to wear a crown, so I was pretty much in my glory that night.
Last night, Gian Luca took me to Solera for dinner. I was a bit skeptical, thinking that nothing could be better than Amada or Bar Ferdinand, but Solera beat them both for one simple reason: the tasting menu.
Solera gives diners the option of ordering Tapas ala carte, or from one of three tasting menus: Tradicional, Seasonal, or Nuevo. Since Gian Luca and I are both traditionalist who have eaten Tapas in Spain, we opted for the Tradicional.
The tasting menu features eight small plates and must be ordered for two. Gian Luca was worried that there would not be enough food, and since we both wanted to try the rabbit with roasted peppers off of the Nuevo menu, we ordered an extra dish.
Our feast began with smoked salmon with white asparagus and capers. The slightly tart lemony flavor of the salmon worked well with the capers. We were off to a good start.
Next came a bruschetta topped with puree of Serrano ham, quince honey and sheep's milk cheese. We loved the new approach to serving Serrano ham, and wondered how exactly the chef was able to puree the meat.
The third plate was my personal favorite. Baby clams with a roasted tomato puree topped with blanched almonds. The fire roasted taste mixed with the blanched almonds is one that I will certainly try to imitate, possibly on a pasta. I'll keep you posted.
The next four courses hit us in a wild progression. Grilled mushrooms topped with a softly poached egg, grilled Spanish and Portuguese Sausages served with a chilled white bean flan, Chorizo and Goat cheese stuffed Dates, and Veal Meatballs with a parsley chimichurri sauce. By the time that the grilled Chorizo and hot green peppers arrived we were both so full that we couldn't even taste it. Our server was nice enough to wrap up all of what we couldn't finish (and, mixed with some scrambled eggs, it made for an amazing brunch this morning.)
Now that I'm thinking about it, I am almost positive that, we were serendipitously brought an extra plate of braised duck served on puff pastry. No wonder we couldn't eat everything.
We did, however, loosen our belts to make room for dessert. I could have eaten anything on the menu, but, in an attempt to remain semi-light, we chose the apricot gazpacho with leche fritta ( fried milk) and citrus creme. Served in a bowl with a grilled apricot, this was a deliciously sweet ending to a great meal.
This morning, as we drank our coffee, we decided that the only bad thing about Tapas is that it is too difficult to recreate for two people. This prompted us to want to have an end of summer Tapas party in our tiny apartment. So, if anyone has recipes to share, please send them my way!

A Seat At Her Table

2009-07-28T08:31:00.003-06:00

I'm in a great writing workshop led by Frank Bures and this week's assignment was to write a profile. Since my mom taught me everything about food , I thought I'd write one about her. Here it is:

A Seat at Her Table

Graziella Iacovino wants to feed you. Chances are, if you live in South Jersey, she already has. Graziella has been in the restaurant business for twenty years, nourishing families and making friends in the process. She attributes this longevity to one thing: sacrifice. In fact, she advises people who toy with the idea of opening a restaurant by stating, “Don’t even think of opening the door unless you are willing to sacrifice your life for the restaurant.”
But even before opening a restaurant, Graziella was no stranger to sacrifice. Born at the tail end of World War II in Salandra, a small town in Basilicata, one of Italy’s southern-most regions, Graziella’s earliest memories of food are pleasant, but tinted with sadness. “Even though there was hardly any food, my mother always found a way to make us dinner,” she remembers. “ She would wait until we were full before getting food for herself. Some nights she didn’t eat at all. But each night, she would take the few ingredients what we had and transform them into something delicious. It was magical.”
Though her mother didn’t explicitly teach her how to cook, Graziella’s passion for food developed in the small kitchen of her childhood home. “ I loved watching my mother and sisters cook. It was amazing to see what they could make out of ingredients that most people would discard. Later in life, I realized that I had retained the memory of these recipes. It was my turn to create them.”
Graziella’s first attempt to recreate her mother’s food was at twenty-one, when she was doing missionary work in Africa and missing Italian food. In Zambia, she held her first dinner party, inviting two other Italians that she had met there. The menu was simple: fettuccine alfredo and crema fritta, fried sweet custard. “I think they liked it,” she remembers, “because they left with smiles on their faces.”
Now, seeing smiling faces is her favorite part of owning a restaurant. “My greatest reward is when a customer hugs me on his way out. If people are happy, I know I did well”. It is not uncommon that Graziella receive multiple hugs and even a kiss or two per night, probably because, when people dine with Graziella, they feel like a part of her family. She is the ethereal mother with plump arms and a warm smile. She has the uncanny ability to make people feel at home, even in a crowded, noisy restaurant. She wouldn’t have it any other way.
Graziella attributes all of her success as a chef to her family. In 1973, after marrying Joe Iacovino, she moved to America and began cooking. The reason was simple; her new husband liked to eat. But up to that point, her culinary endeavors were limited to cooking for one (minus the African dinner party). Often, as a poor nursing student in Milan, she would eat stale bread rubbed with a tomato and olive oil for dinner. But Joe expected that, since she was from Italy, she would know how to cook. Rather than disappoint him, she buried her head in the one cookbook she had brought from Italy, Il Talismano della Felicita`, (The Talisman of Happiness) and cooked a new recipe each night. Inspired by the rave reviews of her husband, she began hosting dinner parties for all their friends. Still she enjoyed the intimacy of cooking dinner just for him. She advises young women “the secret to a happy marriage is to cook dinner for your husband. Even if you aren’t such a great cook the important thing is to try. If its not that good, at least something is on the table.”
Her advice worked wonders for her. She and her husband have been married for thirty-six years. Even while raising five children Graziella was happy to have dinner on the table. “Making dinner for my husband and kids really fueled my passion for cooking and learning. To me, it was never a chore, but a chance to experiment,” she explains.
When Graziella and her husband opened their first take-out store Graziella’ s in Westmont, New Jersey, in 1989 she didn’t realize how drastically her life was going to change. Her family was used to having her at home; she had been a stay at home mom for fourteen years, the kind of mother who made fresh blueberry muffins for breakfast before taking her children to school. Her older children didn’t seem to mind her absence, but her two younger children took it hard. When they resisted after-school programs and babysitters Graziella thought about closing the doors and going home for them. But after some creative thinking, she found a solution that worked; she converted the dry storage space into a playroom for the kids, stocking it with a couch, TV, video games and a big desk. She missed their family dinners so Joe bought two small card tables and placed them in the large kitchen. Each night, the family met there for dinner. So Graziella had the best of both worlds; she was an entrepreneur and a mom. Even as her kids grew, she maintained these roles.
One summer evening, two customers asked if there was a table available for them to sit and eat their take-out. Not wanting to say no, Graziella invited them into the kitchen to sit at her family’s table. The next night they were back. “They came in every night for the ten days their wives were on vacation.” On the ninth night, the men informed her that the next day they would be bringing eight guests to join them. “We didn’t even have a table big enough,” she remembers. The men didn’t seem to mind. They brought in a piece of plywood to elongate the tables. Graziella rushed to the fish market next door to borrow some chairs then served the men drunken shrimp wrapped in prosciutto, penne puttanesca, veal topped with crabmeat, asparagus and fontina cheese, and ricotta cheesecake. That was August. Word spread and by New Year’s Eve the party was up to thirty. Alas the restaurant was born.
As soon as the lease on the first building was up, Graziella and Joe looked to by a place. They settled on a small restaurant with space for forty seats. Graziella insisted on an open kitchen; she wanted to see people enjoying her food. This personal closeness was what drove the business. A seat at Graziella’s was like at seat at mom’s kitchen table, only considerably more gourmet.
But in 1993, business took a lull. Graziella was determined to succeed. She gave up her one-day off and began teaching cooking classes on Monday nights. “Teaching was a new way for me to get to know my customers. At first, I was nervous, especially because of my accent, but as soon as I saw how fascinated the students were, I got excited.” The original course ran for five consecutive weeks during which the students were taught stocks and sauces, appetizers, pasta dishes, entrees, and desserts. The classes ran from seven to nine and concluded with everyone sitting around a table, eating what they had prepared together. “The first week was always strange because people didn’t know each other, but after eating together, people became more comfortable. By the second week we were having fun. At the end of the course, we were all friends”.
Graziella has maintained friendships with all of her students and regular customers. The back of her cookbook, La Cucina Semplice, which she published in 1994 features letters from people who took her class, detailing their experiences in her kitchen. Toni Ruggeri, one of Graziella’s first students writes, “It was delightful to meet and cook with people from all walks of life, secretaries, doctors, carpenters, plumbers, teachers, lawyers and TV personalities, who all share the same interest in cooking”. Graziella explains, “there is something about food that just brings people together. That is really why I love it.”
Eventually business turned around and Graziella and Joe needed to expand. They bought the building next door, tore down the walls and added an additional 110 seats to their restaurant. They transformed the restaurant into an Italian cultural center, merging Joe’s passion for opera with Graziella’s for food. Soon Graziella’s was known as the “opera lovers rendezvous” because people could dine on gourmet food and listen to up-and -coming opera singers perform arias in between courses. Once a month, they would perform full operas concert style on Sunday afternoons. The opera club that grew from this had nearly eight hundred members, all of whom tried to get one of the one hundred and fifty seats at the performance each month. Many of the young singers went on to great success; two are regulars at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. But the encore was usually a Neapolitan song sung by Joe himself, who brought down the house with his keen narration and charming personality.
In 2003, Graziella helped her youngest son Luciano open Ristorante Luciano, a seasonal restaurant on the Jersey Shore. Two years later, she sold Graziella’s and focused on helping her son full time. “I’m so proud of the business that he has built,” she joyfully brags.
But you won’t find Graziella in the kitchen during service hours there. “It is a closed kitchen and I like to be out with people,” she explains. Instead, she focuses on pastry and specialty items such as homemade cheese gnocchi and chocolate soufflés, making them in the early mornings so she is free at night.
“Right now I am returning back to the traditional dishes that many chefs have lost. We tend to buy everything now in order to save time. But homemade food is so much more delicious. I am focusing on making everything from scratch, the way it was done in the old days.” One such dish is her homemade lasagna; each paper-thin layer of pasta is rolled by hand and topped with béchamel and Bolognese sauce. Her cannoli are another treat; Graziella fries the shells with the same bamboo forms that her mother used when she was a child. “My father made these,’ she says, holding out the tiny tubes in her hand. They are so great for frying cannoli shells because the bamboo stays relatively cool. You can only find metal ones in the stores now, but metal gets too hot.” The result is, thin and crispy shells, the perfect complement to the sweet ricotta filling that is stuffed inside. “They sell like crazy,” she says.
In the evenings, the true Graziella shines on the dining room floor. She is and always was the perfect hostess, bouncing from table to table as if each night were her personal dinner party. At Ristorante Luciano she sees to it that all of her guests are comfortable, happy, and satisfied, just as she would at home. Although she’s given her life to the restaurant, she seems to have it pretty good there, among her family and friends, enjoying the food, sharing laughs and exchanging goodnight hugs.

Simon and Garfunkle Pasta

2009-07-24T15:16:00.010-06:00

Yesterday at the farmers' market, I picked up a bag of fresh shiitake mushrooms. Now, I must say, I adore mushrooms, any type, any time. It's funny because my brother Luciano, who is an amazing chef and owns his own restaurant abhors them. He even goes through the trouble of lying to waiters when he goes out for dinner, saying that he is highly allergic so that they will be left out of his dishes. I even think he dislikes truffles... come on. Who doesn't like truffles?

I think the best bite of food I've ever eaten was a tiny sliver of raw white truffle, but we don't have the means to buy them. I can, however buy different varieties of mushrooms, which is exactly what I did yesterday.

When I really love an ingredient, I want to highlight it. I want to showcase it and make it the star. And mushrooms are definitely the star of this easy pasta dish, aptly named for a great musical duo of the seventies. You'll see why.

2 cups of chopped Shiitake tops ( discard the stems, they get too chewy)
1 cup dried Porcini mushrooms, chopped and soaked in 1 cup of water
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp Chopped Italian Parsley
1 tbsp Chopped Sage
1 tbsp Chopped Rosemary
1 tbsp Chopped Thyme

Grated cheese to taste ( I like Grano Padano)

Heat olive oil in medium saucepan. Add garlic and saute until golden.
Add the Shiitake and Porcini mushrooms, water, and herbs. Saute together on high heat for five minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for additional fifteen minutes.

Cook pasta for two. You can used your favorite pasta since any pasta will work with this. Add cooked pasta to the saucepan. Reheat sauce with pasta for a few minutes, tossing lightly to coat the pasta. Top with cheese and serve.

*Allow Porcini mushrooms to soak in water for at least 10 minutes to rehydrate them. Save the water to add to the sauce.

** If you still don't understand why this is "Simon and Garfunkle" pasta click here