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Young & HungryIf you can't take the heat, get outta the kitchen! |
| 18 July |
It does only make sense that the first recipes crafted in an Italian culinary program would be tomato based. As my teacher said, you haven’t tasted a tomato until you’ve tasted one grown in Italy and it is a main ingredient in the majority of dishes, second only to garlic and olive oil. But we actually began our kitchen journey with taillage or the fine art of cutlery aka knife skills. These tomato recipes just so happened to showcase new techniques such as concasse and cuts like chiffonade, julienne, and jardiniere. Remind me to thank the French for crafting such specific requirements for cutting vegetables, particularly for tournage, the turning of vegetables until they’re perfectly shaped with 7 faceted sides and two blunt ends… I am unsure that I will ever master this tecnique, but I’m sure many a potato will be wasted in the process.
| 10 March |
Who wants to get up early to slave over the stove, rising hours before your guests arrive to make brunch? Not I. This Italian variation on the Mexican Huevos Rancheros (soon to follow) can be made from leftover spaghetti sauce or store bought if slaving in general just isn’t your thing! The remainder of the ingredients can be kept on hand so a big breakfast or brunch are never out of your reach. Serve with prosecco juiced up with some peach nectar or Orangina.
| 11 February |
Here is my final recipe suggestion for all you love birds out there. This recipe is a big undertaking, however, so if you’ve waited this long to make plans, you might have waited too long to mentally prepare for the challenge that is the Big Night Timpano! If you’re still reading, however, or if your boo bought one of those scalped reservations on the web…I bid you well and recommend you don one of those new skirts with the elastic waistbands that seem to have come back into style at JUST the right time.
I first discovered this recipe in a dark movie theatre at the Aspen Film Festival. In Stanley Tucci’s 1996 movie Big Night, the chef Primo slaves away at this towering pasta pie, among countles other dishes, in attempt to save his and his brother Secondo’s dying restaurant. While the guest of honor, charged with brining celebrity buzz to the small unknown trattoria, never shows, the night is anything but a loss. Actually, I suppose they do lose quite a bit of money, but they have a big extravagant evening filled with endless courses of food, wine, and dancing. Additionally, they learn the importance of being and being true to yourself and your talents, which may not be as loved and appreciated by others as you would expect, but are the only thing that will bring you true happiness.
| 30 December |
It’s that time of year again. The holidays have come and will soon be gone leaving us with new memories, toys, and a lot of cold days to resolve everything that got lost in the shuffle. There will be resolutions to eat right, save money, and work out, among other things. But, in response to these three that frequent everybody’s To Do list, I bring you this soup! It’s hearty, healthy, and will keep you toasty and warm during the chilly days to come.
| 2 November |
I imagine it’s not too common for someone to be inspired to plan an entire meal around something like radicchio, but thanks to Michael Chiarello that’s exactly what I did. This episode of his show on grilling was nothing out of the ordinary, but the idea of taking a boring leaf vegetable and putting it through marinade, direct heat, and a good stuffing is just plain inspirational. For those that don’t know, radicchio is that bitter red “green” aka chicory that you usually pick out of your salad! This recipe, however, transforms it into a charred veggie quesadilla-esque masterpiece. The cheese melts gluing the leaves of the lettuce together into a sandwich of sorts while the marinade helps hide the bitterness that is also reduced through a nice long ice bath. The juicy radicchio serves as the perfect counterpart to the oh too usual dry and overcooked pork, unless you too like risking salmonella in avoidance.
As far as your starch for the meal is concerned, couscous went well and put to good use the leftover marinade from the radicchio. Michael seems to take a heavy hand to the marinade; I found that half was more than sufficient. If couscous isn’t your thing, I might do something simple like mashed or baked potatoes especially now that summer has come and gone and the colorful heirloom tomatoes have disappeared from the stores and markets.
| 13 July |
Themes are important . Be it in a book, a menu, or a party, having a theme provides sense of congruence that sets the stage for things to come. Not only must one have a theme, but they must have a good theme as well. One that everyone can really get excited about and put their energy into. My old roommates and I decided to throw a party with such a theme and everyone really got on board. In turn, the result was another successful party.
What was the theme you ask? Senior Trip. Although it makes sense since I still live in my hometown, it never fails to blow my mind how many people from high school are still around and in touch. I’d say we had at least 5-10 people in attendance who were on said senior trip, to Cancun of course, and even more pictures of said people on display. Other party favors included a sound track right out of high school including the classic Kilo, Green Day, and Abercrombie & Fitch songs, leis, Senior Girls t-shirts, Graduation paraphernalia, Malibu and punch. Lest you forget, drinking at 18 is legal in Mexico!
I, of course, was charged with food and my (in)famous drunken pineapple. Despite the fact that we ate chicken fingers at Tony Roma’s more days than not, I went with something a tad more unique since technically we are grownups now. That said, I’m pretty sure some fried chicken cordon bleu bites made an appearance at some point during the night…
| 1 June |
Mayday mayday! Hurry here September, the home of our own May Day aka Labor Day. Thank goodness June is here. My apologies for the deceleration in recipes these days; it’s been a busy spring. Let’s, for a second, rewind to my favorite holiday Cinco de Mayo as it, like last month, sped by way too quickly.
I love guacamole, but that wasn’t always the case. After being force fed plain avocados at a young age I was turned off to the fruit (yes avocados are a fruit too) as are many people that have been served the slimy green mush that some restaurants put on as the real deal… I do not know from what this substitute is made, but I find it distressing that it ruins the good name of the shining emerald token of my affection. To those who claim that they are “just not that into it”, I challenge you to try the following recipe. It has turned many a taste bud in delicious delight! Gone is the flavorless goo; say hello to the real deal and your new obsession.
| 20 May |
I recently decided to further explore spring’s bountiful flavors with a lovely and light watermelon salad. What follows is a conglomeration of many recipes I’ve seen recently as watermelon salads seem to be the “it” dish of the moment, though I can see why….spicy meets sweet meets cooling yielding an intensely refreshing dish perfect for cleansing the pallet. The vinaigrette is highly acidic, therefore cutting the sweetness of the watermelon and adding a nice tart finish. I highly recommend serving it (like the Italians do) at the end of the meal, just before dessert, although this is so satisfying, you may be inclined to skip dessert altogether.
A perfect spring salad.
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