This poached monkfish with brown butter, lemon & caper sauce makes quite an elegant little dinner for two or a posh meal for a special party.
Monkfish :: coda di rospo is probably one of the ugliest fish around. With an enormous head and oversized mouth filled with razor sharp teeth it comes as no surprise that “sea devil” is another preferred name. Yet, what this grotesque fish lacks in beauty, it makes up for in its CONTINUE READING
Our garden is overflowing with plump vine-ripened tomatoes :: pomodori!
I’ve been cooking up a storm making millet stuffed tomatoes, basil and tomato sauce and these delightful bruschetta with whipped feta, tomato, basil and lemon zest.
On a side note, for all you Italian language learners out there, my title should really be “bruschette” because you change the “a” to an “e” to make it plural, yet I never know if it’s better to use the real word or the Americanized term so people get what I am talking about. Bruschetta=1, bruschette=more than one. Final note, the real way to pronounce bruschetta is like this: “brew—sket—ta”. Here’s a trick to remembering this pronunciation: “you are drinking a brew, when out jumps a skeleton from the closet who yells ta-da!” brew-sket-ta. Random, I know, but these little tricks help with remembering languages at the beginning, at least for me. 🙂
Back to those lovely little tomatoes I was telling you about. Italians are experts at growing and conserving tomatoes for the entire year. Some of the most popular ways to conserve tomatoes are CONTINUE READING
For all you ladies out there, let me ask you a question. Have you ever bought a beautiful dress and a pair of heels that you absolutely love but have only worn once or twice? Maybe you splurged on the items or found them on sale, maybe you bought them for a wedding or a special date. Regardless of how much you love them, they sit at the back of your closet collecting dust while slowly making their way to becoming vintage. It’s a waste that can be avoided. You just need reasons to dress. That tagline is also the blog name of my newly acquainted fashion blogger friend Angie Nardiello (in the black dress) who suggested that we get dolled up and enjoy an aperitivo (aperitif) together.
Photo Credit: A Reason To Dress
Angie is a Canadian expat who I met through our lovely mutual American friend Adrienne (pink dress). Within the first five minutes of meeting her, she suggested putting together this summer cocktail style evening. Adrienne was to host at her beautiful house, Angie was to coordinate our outfits and I was to prepare the menu.
Photo Credit: A Reason To Dress
While you may think of an omelet purely as breakfast fare, in Italy the frittata, a similar egg-based dish, is much more versatile and commonly eaten for lunch, happy hour or dinner.
While traveling in Italy, you may find a rectangle of frittata served in a sandwich on crusty Italian bread, or cut in small squares and jabbed with toothpicks to be accompanied by a CONTINUE READING
One of my favorite appetizers is baked brie. It’s simple to throw together, mouthwatering delicious and it’s always a hit at dinner parties.
It’s a classic recipe that can be adapted in many ways. Some of my favorite combinations include:
-Brown sugar and pecans-
-Cranberry jam and toasted almond slivers-
-Now adding to this list of favorites is pureed persimmons with Acacia honey and walnuts-
I have a love hate relationship with persimmons: I love the flavor, but I hate the texture. It’s soft, squishy and the occasional “slurp” slips out when you eat a persimmon with a spoon. I despise that noise; for me it’s worse than nails on a chalkboard. How to get around this problem? READ MORE