Tuesday's Tip: Bruschetta

When making bruschetta, rub the lightly toasted bread with a fresh clove of garlic. The aroma is out of the world, and it adds a hint of garlic flavor.

Today's lunch features bruschetta with Tuscan bread (sliced thinly and lightly toasted), Roma tomatoes, arugula, thinly sliced Fontina cheese, salt/pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.

The All-Purpose Mediterranean Topper

Sometimes, a little prepping now leads to infinite possibilities during the week. 

For example, my All-Purpose Mediterranean Topper. Let me show you what I can do with four basic ingredients (plus salt & pepper and a simple dressing) that I keep stored in the refrigerator ...

All-Purpose Mediterranean Topper

Ingredients:

diced tomatoes

diced sweet peppers

diced cucumbers

fresh parsley

Combine ingredients. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. 

Now here's the fun part. When I dice the ingredients into smaller pieces, I like to use the topper as garnish (with chicken or fish), a bruschetta topping, or even in a cold pasta salad. If I cut the ingredients into chunkier pieces, I will use the topper as a vegetable side dish or tossed in a mixed salad. It's also great for a light lunch with a piece of Parmigiano Reggiano and a bottle of sparkling water.

Oh, and you can mix the topper with tuna for the best tuna salad ever.

See? The possibilities are endless.

For a dressing I like to use freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper. But you can also use your favorite bottled Italian salad dressing. Just remember to go light on the dressing--think complement and not hostile takeover.

Together, these four basic ingredients taste light and fresh; sometimes, if I want a little kick, I will add a diced red onion.

Sunday Lunch with i Nonni

My parents returned last night from a two week trip out west, so I decided make things festive for today's lunch with i Nonni. Yes, I spent all morning cooking, but it was all worth it when later we sat around the table talking and enjoying each other's company.

Menu

Sweet Potato Sliders w. guacamole and chipotle sauce

Summer salad w. citrus vinaigrette*

sautéed zucchini

hummus w. naan dippers

angel food cake w. fruit topping

iced tea, vino, espresso

*recipe call for Roquefort cheese, but I used feta.

Menu Planning: Sometimes Detailed, Sometimes Not

I usually try to plan a week's worth of meals Sunday evening or Monday morning.


Sometimes my lists are detailed, assigning a specific meal to a specific night; other times I need more flexibility, so I will just scribble meal ideas on a legal pad which I then reference during the week. What I always do is pull out the recipes I intend to use from my kitchen binder and set them aside (so I'm not looking for recipes), then I make a grocery list and stock the pantry and refrigerator for the upcoming week.


It's not a perfect system, and sure there are weeks when I don't plan and I'm running around, and yes I've resorted to Little Caesar's pizza when I just don't feel like cooking, and sometimes we will even have a bowl of cereal for dinner, but the point is I like going into the week with some plan (vague or otherwise) so that I'm not scrambling.


This week I'm going with a list of meals. With two tennis matches I need flexibility to switch things around if I need to. Also, Jonathan arrives Friday for a four day weekend which not only means bigger meals, but also more nourishing ones to offset a college diet. Plus we're celebrating his 21st birthday, so there's that, too.


So here's our list of meals for the week. When I am trying to decide what to fix for dinner, I will pick from this list because I will have shopped for it and will have everything I need. I also know that we will eat out Saturday night and have lunch at Nonna and Nonno's house on Sunday.

Meal #1

pollo al forno con rosmarino (baked chicken with rosemary)

bruschetta

pure` di patate (mashed potatoes)

Meal #2

homemade pizza

raw vegetable platter

root beer floats

Meal #3

pasta alla Bolognese

salad

Meal #4

chili

cornbread muffins

Meal #5

Greek marinated grilled chicken

grilled Naan bread with spices

roasted/grilled vegetables

Meal #6 (football fare)
honey garlic crockpot meatballs
tortillas w. salsa grilled
Panini squares
gourmet popcorn

Bonus: One Breakfast Idea
cinnamon apple French toast

Bonus: One Dessert Idea
Nonna's apple cake

photo:

grocery shopping in Verona, Italy

June 2015

Pizza Night

Friday night is usually pizza night around here, but this time I tried something new: instead of making 2-3 large pizzas, I divided the dough into individual portions, assembled a toppings bar, and then had everyone make their own. Buon Appetito!

Text Recipes, continued

Kitchen time with our eldest son has resulted in Text Recipes -- the easiest way to remember, store, and access recipes from Mom.


And it's easy. A photo of the ingredients and a photo of the end result. No instructions. Just a visual reminder on how to get from photo A to photo B. He's a computer engineer, he'll figure it out.

 

Text Recipes

"Mom, this summer I want to learn to cook."


The words, spoken by our eldest son, were music to my ears. In a few weeks he will be off to Denver, CO for training and then Little Rock, AR where he will be living. He will be in a new place, working in a new environment, and while he can grill a burger and cook pasta he wanted more ideas in his arsenal.


Which is where I come in. But I know my son: the fewer the ingredients, all the better; the quicker the cooking time, all the better.


So enter the text recipes.


Here's how it works: When I get ready to teach him a new recipe (today it was grilled tilapia on steamed rice, served with seasoned tomatoes), I gather all the ingredients on the counter and take a photo. Then, after we are finished cooking I take another photo of the finished product and TEXT HIM BOTH PHOTOS for him to file away.


This way, he has a photo of all the ingredients. He has a photo of the end result. And without actually writing down a recipe he can figure out how to get from photo A to photo B.


He's a computer engineer. He can figure it out.




The Tuna Bowl (my go-to lunch)

Maria's Bruschetta

Bruschetta ... so many variations, so many wonderful combinations!


Today I used toasted flatbread, tomatoes, endive lettuce, fresh mozzarella, sea salt, pepper, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar from Modena.

Beating the Heat in an Italian Kitchen with ... Wine?

Honestly, who wants to cook in this heat? Not me. Who wants to grill when the temperature reading is in the triple digits?  Not Joe.


As you can see, it's a problem.


So last weekend, on a large wooden platter I arranged a meal of antipasti ... a beautiful assortment of herb coated salami, thinly sliced prosciutto, chunks of parmigiano-reggiano, Italian grissini, crusty baguettes, and vine-ripened tomatoes dressed in olive oil and vinegar.


#seewhatididthere?


No cooking required, but molto delizioso.


"Too bad I don't drink yet," Timothy announces. "All this would go perfectly with wine."


Chilled vino bianco. Now THAT is refreshing.

Not Your Mother's Day Tea

What am I doing on this beautiful, sunny Mother's Day? Since next Sunday I am hosting a one year reunion picnic of our Girls' Trip to Italy ...


I'm making limoncello, of course.

Capri and the Amalfi Coast ... lemons everywhere!

lemon zest + pure grain alcohol + sugar = limoncello

Thinly sliced lemon peels ... no pith!

Yeah ... so, those lemon peels aren't soaking in water ;-)

What to do with the poor, naked lemons?

Make lemon sorbet, of course!

Buon Appetito, compliments of the Pontifical Swiss Guard

The Commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, Christoph Graf, provided the recipe for our entrée in today's pranzo with i Nonni. His recipe contribution, Veal Cutlets in Cream Sauce (The Vatican Cookbook, p 81), was a huge hit despite the fact I made a few changes -- I substituted the veal with thinly sliced chicken cutlets, and instead of the roasted vegetables I served it on a bed of wilted greens. The recipe is definitely a keeper. Here is the menu for our pranzo ...

Chicken Cutlets in a Wine and Cream Sauce

served on a bed of wilted greens

Italian Roasted Potatoes

with olive oil and herbs

Salad with Strawberries and Almonds

tossed with a light, Italian vinaigrette

Gelato

choice of:

straciatella or peanut butter chocolate swirl

Espresso

Lt. Col. Christoph Graf, vice commander of the Swiss Guard, reviews Swiss Guards in Dec. 2014.
Photo: CNS/Paul Haring

Into the Kitchen

I’ve had so much on my plate lately (work, Masters prep, my parents’ 50^th anniversary party, spring break) that I’ve fallen off the culinary bandwagon; as a result, there have been too many quick meals, too many trips to the grocery store without a list, and all too little forethought, imagination, and creativity in the kitchen. Sadly, it’s been a while since I’ve …

-tried a new recipe

-cooked something that took longer than 30 minutes to prepare

-made homemade bread, pasta, ice cream, sorbet, or pasta sauce

-planned a week’s worth of meals

-organized my grocery lists

-shopped at a Farmer’s Market

 

And I’ve missed doing all those things. Planning meals, cooking, and setting a table that invites people to linger is a creative process for me; it’s what I like to do and it is how I give.  But now, with the boys coming home from college and schedules winding down, I have plans to …

-buy organic lemons -- lemon peels for limoncello and lemons for sorbet

-make homemade ice cream for the boys (several flavors)

-pull out my “recipes to try” file and … try new recipes

-update my recipe binder (file, purge, add recipes)

-cook homemade pizza on the grill

-keep a fruit salad and a pitcher of tea in the refrigerator at all times

-dine al fresco at least once a day (even if it’s just a cappuccino on the back deck in the morning, or a glass of wine on the patio in the evening)

-eat out: that is, make grilled panini, pack them in a basket with some bottles of San Pellegrino, and … picnic for dinner!

 

During the summer, I make one of these every 2-3 days

There are also some cookbooks I want to read. I like to collect Italian cookbooks, and I especially like the ones which feature great photography and regional recipes with historical background on each dish. My most recent addition is the Vatican Cookbook which I ordered solely because it’s published by the Pontifical Swiss Guard and I have a thing for the Swiss Guards (all of them). Of course, as you can see from the photo, not all my cookbooks are Italian. I look forward to reading, for example, Gwyneth Paltrow’s It’s All Easy (I know she gets a lot of grief, but I fundamentally agree with her approach to food that is not only healthy and simple, but also contributes to a feeling of wholeness).

And there you have it. If you need me, or want a cappuccino or a slice of homemade pizza, you know where to find me.

"One of the very nicest things about life

is the way we must regularly stop whatever

it is we are doing and devote our

attention to eating."

-Luciano Pavarotti, opera singer

Pizza in Paradise

We have homemade pizza once a week. I usually make my own dough, but if I am short on time I will purchase the raw pizza dough at Publix, roll it out, and then use homemade sauce and fresh ingredients. (On a side note, my Mom makes the best pizza ever. And her dough is ALWAYS homemade.)


Last week I planned a pizza night and decided to try the recipe for Two-Ingredient Pizza Dough that has been popping up here and there on the internet. That's right, two ingredients. All you need is Greek yogurt and self-rising flour.


To be honest, I was skeptical, but I was also willing to give it a try. I combined the two ingredients. I kneaded the dough and rolled it out on a flour surface. And you know what? Don't ask my how or why, but it actually worked.


I am sure you're wondering, though, how it tasted. Well, compared to my regular pizza dough, this one was more dense; also, when I was rolling it there was a tangy smell from the yogurt that I didn't like. But the boys enjoyed the end result,  and with just two ingredients it was definitely very easy.


Would make it again? Probably not. I'll stick to my original recipe.  But here's the thing ... if I am ever stranded on a desert island and I only had Greek yogurt and self-rising flour, it's nice to know I would have everything on hand to whip up a pizza.

Two-ingredient pizza dough: Greek yogurt and self-rising flour.
That's it.

Strangely, it worked.
But I will stick with my regular pizza dough recipe.

Bia's Pasta e Fagioli

I have lots of recipes for minestrone, but this classic recipe for pasta e fagioli is one of our favorites. It is perfect for a blustery winter day, and served with a tossed salad, freshly baked artisan bread, and a glass of vino rosso ... it is the ultimate comfort food. (In all honesty, sometimes we go without the salad and just have pasta e fagioli and bread.) (Oh, and wine. Don't forget the wine.)


This recipe makes enough for our family of five, with plenty for leftovers. If you have a small family, the recipe can be halved.


Bia's Pasta e Fagioli


Olive Oil
3 carrots, diced
2 onions, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped


2 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes (I use the Cento brand)
4 potatoes, cubed
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. oregano
2-3 chicken bouillon cubes
salt & pepper, to taste


32 oz. carton low sodium chicken broth


1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
10 oz. pkg. frozen spinach, partially thawed and cut into small squares


1 small pkg. ditalini pasta
Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated (for garnish)


1. Cook carrots, onions, and garlic in olive oil for 20 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients except beans and spinach. Add one half of the chicken broth (or enough until everything is submerged in liquid). Cook until potatoes are tender.
3. Shortly before serving, add beans and spinach. Bring to boil. Add the pasta and more broth (if needed). Cook until pasta is al dente.
4. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and serve.




Some additional notes:


-Even though I buy frozen chopped spinach, it is still too stringy for my crew. But when I partially thaw it and cube it ... no more spinach strings!


-Pasta e fagioli tastes even better the second day (it's true!), but because the liquid will have been absorbed overnight, simply add more chicken broth before heating it up. I keep the leftover carton of chicken broth in the refrigerator just for this purpose.


-The amount of chicken broth you add during cooking is a personal preference: if you want a thicker pasta e fagioli, add less broth; if you like it soupier, add more. We like it somewhere in the middle (see photo below).

Sunday Dinner with i Nonni (il menu`)

primo

pasta alla puttanesca

secondo

pollo al forno con rosmarino (baked chicken with rosemary)

panzanella (panzanella salad)

pure` di patate (mashed potatoes)

dolce

sorbetto al lampano fatto in casa (homemade raspberry sorbet)

espresso

digestivo

limoncello fatto in casa (homemade limoncello)

At Least There's That

So I'm sitting here, fingers poised over the keyboard, and ... nothing.


It's a horrible place to be, to have this need to write -- to create -- and yet not be able to come up with anything.


This month always does this to me. From beginning to end it's non-stop reports, final essays, school banquets, end of year parties, and requests for this and that. You would think that on a year in which our family didn't have a high school graduation (last year), a Confirmation (two years ago), or a First Communion and an 8th grade graduation within a week of each other (three years ago) that this time things would be different ... but no.  Just as busy. Just as ridiculously crazy.


And the driving. My God, the driving alone can drive you nuts. Half days, exam days, differing dismissal times in two schools ... uhm, road rage anyone?


Someone once dared to mention that Mother's Day is in May ... at least there's that, right? ARE YOU SERIOUS? I'm too busy to celebrate Mother's Day in May. Just give me a dark room and an entire day when no one talks to me ... that's what I want for Mother's day.


I sound grumpy, don't I? Or slightly unhinged.


Well, I made Limoncello last week. It will be ready in a few days.


NOW I'm smiling.


Limoncello in May.  At least there's that. Right?

Making Limoncello

The Sunday Test Kitchen

This past Sunday I was looking at a free afternoon with nothing to do. To be sure, there's always something I could be doing, but for the first time in a while there was nothing urgent ... pending ... looming.


So I did something that I've been wanting to do for a long, long time. Something that would ultimately make my life easier. Something that, while not earth-shattering, would make me happy.


Quite simply, I organized my recipes.


I threw open the kitchen windows, sat down at the table, and fortified with a frothy cappuccino proceeded to consolidate, organize, arrange, sort, catalog, eliminate and systemize a massive pile of recipe cards, scraps of paper, torn pages from magazines, and snippets of this and fragments of that.


After the dust settled this is what was left: a pocket folder with recipes that I plan on trying, and a huge binder filled with recipes that have made the grade. That binder is the Who's Who in the recipe world of my kitchen ... only the best of the best make it in there. Thirteen tabs (appetizers, soups, contorni, main dishes, salads, panini, pasta, etc.), with the last section containing a collection of complete menus from past parties (la festa di S. Giuseppe, canal cruise picnic, graduation dinner, Christmas parties, etc.) which I use as a reference point for planning future events.


And thus was my Sunday afternoon.


Like I said, not earth-shattering ... but gosh darn it felt good.

One pile of many ... all sorted and systemized.

La Cucina della Nonna

This afternoon I am cooking peperonata. It's a lovely Italian side-dish made with red, green and yellow peppers, olive oil, a little salt and pepper, and a whole lot of memories.

When I was growing up, Nonna would do most of the day's cooking early in the morning in order to beat the summertime heat, and as little girls, my sister and I would wake up to the most delicious smells. We would entere the kitchen to bubbling pots on the stove, balcony windows thrown wide open, and my Nonna in an apron who would drop everything to give us kisses . . . and yes, that would be kisses in the plural.

This afternoon, my kitchen smells like Nonna's kitchen.

Back to the (Pepper) Grind

Well. After weeks of big meals, clever leftovers and invites here and there, we are ready to get back to our normal routine. We will not be easing into Monday, but meeting it fully head on, and after late nights and sleeping in I foresee a case of the grumpies by 5 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Even our college student, who has an 8 a.m. class three days a week this semester, is in for a rude awakening ... literally. And just to mix things up, I am doing a three day detox. But more on that later.

Anyway. Meal planning. This week I didn't assign a meal for a specific night; rather, I made a list of seven meals and tomorrow I will shop for all the necessary ingredients. Then, depending on our schedules, each morning I will decided what we're having for dinner. No muss, no fuss.

1. Sloppy Joes w. carrot "fries"

2. Chinese Chicken and Rice (Eat Clean Cookbook p. 162)

3. Roasted Chicken Thighs with Mustard and Thyme Sauce (Best of Cooking Light Magazine, Apr. 2013)

4. Homemade Pizza; Root Beer Floats

5. Scaloppine di pollo; cooked greens (Jamie Oliver's cookbook, Jamie's Italy, p. 11); creamy polenta

6. Pasta with Lentil Bolognese (http://www.italianfoodforever.com/2014/01/pasta-with-lentil-bolognese/)

7. Minestrone (Nonna's recipe) w. homemade crusty bread