So I have finally mastered the Risotto and have been enjoying its creamy decadent wonder every week now. Amazing flavors like Pumpkin Risotto, Milanese Risotto, Mushroom Risotto, Radicchio Risotto and Shrimp Risotto. There is the rare occasion when all the risotto does not get eaten up and the bowl licked clean and you find yourself with leftover risotto in the fridge.
Carbonara was a dish that alluded me before I moved to Italy. It flies contrary to the cooking style of Americans. We view all sauces as containing cream or tomato sauce but this is not true of Italian pasta. The sauce is usually very simple, so simple we can’t imagine it to be correct.
We live in Nettuno, a beach town one hour south of Rome. The only thing Italians love as much as sun tanning on the beach is sauntering up from their sun beds into the Borgo for a steaming plate of mussels and pasta.
I currently live in Italy and this recipe for Tiramisu has become my new “go to” recipe for making a dessert for company. It is prepared the day in advance, it’s easy and always a hit! Whenever we have guests arriving from the US we always make this dessert and it woos them everytime, but even my Italian friends love my recipe and rave about how authentic it is, high praise indeed!
I’m still trying to catch on to the true “Italian Style” of cooking and it often eludes me. I especially have been baffled on what to make as a “Secondi Piatti” or Second Course when I have people over for dinner. This Saturday morning I walked to my local grocery store around the corner and was amazed at the spectacular choices available and it dawned on me that I have been shopping at the wrong time! Saturday lunch is traditionally the biggest family meal of the week.
A local friend that has origins in Napoli asked if we wanted to go on a Food tour of Napoli you know the answer was a resounding “yes!” So we took the 6:58 am train from Nettuno heading to Napoli. We met our friends in route and two and a half hours later we were disembarking at the Naples train station.
We were invited to the beautiful area of San Felice Circeo about an hour south from our house along the coast to have dinner with friends. The evening started at 5:00pm as we drove into the scenic area of San Felice Circeo and parked along the harbor.
While we were living in Corn Island, Nicaragua I got pretty desperate for any food from home. One day my niece mistakenly bought powdered milk while on a grocery shopping errand. It can be pretty crazy buying groceries in a third world island store. I thought “What am I going to do with all of this powdered milk?”
Homemade Cannoli
(You will need cannoli molds and pastry bags to make these, I ordered mine at Amazon.com and they were under $10 and arrived in a few days. You can fry the shells a few days before filling them so it’s a great “do-ahead” recipe and a real crowd pleaser!
So first let’s talk about WHY you should roast your own coffee: Buying high grade, single origin coffee from your choice of countries costs the same as buying mid-range pre-roasted coffee from Costco. The benefits are you get to choose the beans and country of origin, control the depth of the roast and most importantly control your freshness.
