Saturday Night Dinner

Hi all,

Took a little while to get back here..been kind of busy. Last night we had a wonderful dinner. The menu was Pollo alla San Marino; an Italian version of Cordon Bleu;... Risotto ai Funghi Selvatici; three mushroom risotto;...and Spinaci alla Milanese; Spiach Milan style. The chicken came out so moist and flavourful. It is stuffed with fontina cheese and prosciutto, rolled in italian bread crumbs and top with a creamy brandy sauce. The Risotto included porcini, shititake , and crimini mushrooms. Heaven on a plate. Thanks honey for making the risotto for me! the spinach was two pounds of fresh spinach wilted with pine nuts garlic and nutmeg. My buddy Fernando started the meal with a wonderful antipasti and Abby brought a delicious tiramisu cake...mmmm! I tell you, nothing is better on a rainy night than a table of good food shared with good friends. Boun Appetito!

Fall is in the air

Well fall is finally in the air. The coolness inspired me to a warming comfort food dish. Pasta Fasuli; bean and pasta soup. The aromas excited the senses with savory goodness. Starting off with dried kidney and Lima beans brought to a boil and then soaked for and hour then added to a mixture of cooked  bacon, onion, carrots, garlic and celery with Chicken stock and spices. After simmering for a couple of hours to blend all the flavours a cup of uncooked rigatoni was added and cooked for about 12 minutes until al' Dente. I served it with a nice hearty whole grain bread. Fresh pumpkin pie (not necessarily Italian) made a wonder finish to the meal. I look forward to the fall weather and the meals that accompany the cool weather. Boun Appetite!

Bucatini all' Amatriciano

 My next destination is Amatrice, Italy; a town near Rome. Every summer this town holds a celebration where an aromatic dish with fresh thyme and bacon excite the sences. Bucatini all' Amatriciano; commonly refered to as Lover-style pasta. Along with the thyme and bacon, a red jalapeno pepper gives the sauce; made with Roma tomatoes; a nice zip. The dish starts off with sauteing in olive oil fresh parsley, thyme, onion, and a diced up red jalapeno. When the onion gets soft you add a 1/2 pound of diced bacon and cook for about 8 minutes; filling the kitchen with such a wonderful aroma. A splash of a good balsamic vinegar and 4 cups of chopped Roma tomatoes complete the ingrediants for the sauce. Covere and simmer for 20 minutes. Add cooked bucatini; a long hollow tube of pasta, thicker than spaghetti.  Along with the pasta I served asparagus that I sauted in olive oil and butter with Italian seasoning and homemade bread rolls with a herb and cheese topping. Boun Appetito!

so hungry I forgot to take a picture!

Last night I made a simple but delicious pasta dish. The problem is we were so hungry and it smelled so good we dove right in and forgot to take a picture. I will have to make it again and take a picture for this posting. Anyway the pasta was a whole wheat angel hair pasta with shrimp, sundried tomatoes, and broccolli florets scampi. What made this so good was that i used the oil from the sundried tomatoes and butter to cook  the shrimp and tomatoes (garlic of course) and the tossed the blanched broccolli florets into the mix and the tossed with the angel hair pasta. Topped off with a bit of fresh grated parmesian. The dish took all of about 10 minutes to cook.

Success!

Well I made two pizzas tonight. the first was a moderate success and the second a total success. The first pizza was made with pesto sauce fresh mozzarella red and yellow peppers, creminni mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and red onion. The pesto was a walnut and Thai basil pesto and was delicious. the only down side to the pizza was that i cooked the pizza on indirect heat on the pizza stone. the pizza got done but the crust didn't crisp up. The second pizza i made with a classic red sauce, spicy salami, olives and several of the above veggies. This time i cooked it over more direct heat on the pizza stone and it crisped up nicely. A glass of sangiovese made it a perfect dish! I found the pizza dough  very easy to make. you just need to have a couple hours to spare as you need to let it rise a combined 2 hours. Now that I conquered my fear of making the dough we will be eating fresh homemade pizza a lot I think. The recipe I used it from Giada DeLaurintis, Giada at home and can be found on http://www.foodnetwork.com/

Pizza!

Today for the first time ever I am attempting to make fresh pizza dough. Well that isn't completely true. I used to manage a round table pizza restaurant where we made dough fresh everyday. This will be the first time making it at home. There is nothing like the smell of fresh rising dough. Brings the senses alive. When the dough is made i will cook the pizza's on the grill/ I love how pizza come out on the grill using a pizza stone coated lightly coated with cornmeal which gives it a light crunch. I am thinking of a classic Napolitana pizza with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and tomatoes.

Sunday September 19th

Woke up to an overcast day and a little bit of rain. Fall is just arounf the corner and this weather makes me think of all the comfort foods that i love to make during the fall and winter. I love soups with all the fresh ingredients that are available in our area. We are really fortunate to have the produce available to us. Tonight I am making an Italian vegetable soup. Full of things like corn, beans, cabbage and onions. A little bit of ground beef will round out this delicious and aromatic dish. Denise willcome home from yoga to a house full of wonderful smells! I will post pictures later.

Chicken Cacciatore

Here I go again. Tonights adventure in Italian cooking is the rustic dish of chicken cacciatore. I decided to take a little bit of a healthier route by poaching the chicken and using boneless and skinless chicken breast. My sister is here visiting and it was fun having her watch me while I was cooking...felt like my own cooking show. Denise was out doing yoga while I was cooking and when she came in she said how good it smelled. She could hardly wait to eat. As another heathy alternative I chose to serve the cacciatore over a garlic and herb couscous. And to add a little extra flavour to the couscous i cooked it in a low sodium chicken stock. I have to say, It was mmmm!

Pesto!

Just finished making a classic pesto. The toasted pine nuts smelled wonderful. Fresh basil from my garden. Came out a beautiful vibrant green. Can't wait for pasta tonight!
I love making pesto..everything smells so good and the color is so alive. make sure you use a fresh parmigiana, freshly grated to give it a wonderful nutty flavour.

Friday 9-10-2010

Tonight's dinner was a success. Frittata al Basilico e Carciofi and Manzo Stacotto Alla Bolonese.  Atichoke- Basil Frittata and Beef Stew, Bologna Style.  I chose to serve the Frittata along with the Stew in place of bread. It worked well but the aded bread would have been nice to soak up the juices from the stew. The frittata was great as an addition to the meal but needed more as a stand alone dish. If I was to make again i would add some pancetta or ham to give it a little more substance, although the flavour was wonderful as a side dish. the Beef Stew had a wonderful flavour. I could have drank the juices by themselves. The stew called for a sweet red wine of which i chose a Local port produced by Jess Jones Winery. Wish i could take credit for the two recipes but both were from a cookbook called Betty Crocker Italian Cooking; Recipes by Antonio Cecconi. Give them a try. Both of the recipes I followed exactly except with the frittata I added a little extra Italian seasoning as it seemed like it needed a little kick. My Friend Fernando added to the meal with an appitizer of fresh Basil Wrapped Cheese Balls. mmmm! melt in your mouth! All three dishes included fresh basil from my garden. If you enjoy cooking you must have garden fresh herbs! Until next time! Salute'
Jon

what should I make first?

Well here it is decision time.. What do I prepare first. I have been making a lot of sauces lately and want to start with something a little out of the ordinary. I decided to make Frittata al Basilico e Carciofi....Artichoke-Basil Frittata. I have a garden full of fresh basil and can't use it up fast enough. It smells so wonderful! Off to shop!

The Beggining

For the last several years i have become more and more interested in the art of cooking. My favorite cuisines are mostly latin influenced. After seeing the movie Julia and Julia i decided that cooking my way through a particular cuisine would be a good way for me to learn about cooking which has become my passion. I no way think of myself as a chef but i find that cooking is a great outlet and a reliever of stress. My family and friends seem to enjoy my cooking for them so here I am starting a blog to record my journey through Italian cooking. Oh; by the way; I am not Italian by heritage, I just love Italian food!