Sunday, April 21, 2019

Buona Pasqua

A lovely Easter dinner with Lenore and Ralph, Nicholas, Elenora and Chris. We ate at Portofino's in New Haven. What a relaxing meal after a busy weekend. I really enjoyed knowing that none of us had to do any dishes!

Of course, we started with cocktails and appetizers. Sorry photos were not taken except for my dinner dish. Anyway back to the appetizers. Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms. They were fried and stuffed with cheese and prosciutto. Fried Calamari and Mini Osso Bucco. I could have stopped right there. But we plowed on...

I had Rack of Lamb for dinner. Something I never order out. The menu description sounded delicious and oh my gosh it was!!! It was served with a Rosemary Merlot Wine Sauce. Amazing.

Some decaf expresso and the day was complete.

Friday, April 19, 2019

The Last Friday of Lent


A repeat appearance of Caesar Salad with Shrimp. The salad dressing was Lidia Bastianich's.

Romaine Lettuce tossed with Caesar Salad Dressing and topped with homemade croutons and boiled shrimp.

The Shrimp was placed in a pan with 2 cups of cold water and lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon, along with the lemon half and 1/2 tsp of whole black pepper and 1/2 tsp of sugar. The pan was heated over medium heat to a boil and let simmer for about 5 minutes until the shrimp was cooked.

Caesar Salad Dressing
Ingredients-
2 Hard Cooked Egg Yolks
2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
Juice of one Lemon
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
½ Tsp Kosher Salt
6 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Black Pepper to Taste

Method-
In a mini–food processor, combine the egg yolks, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, and ½ teaspoon salt. Process until smooth. With the machine running, add the olive oil in a steady stream to make a smooth dressing. 
The recipe suggests dressing the entire bowl of greens. We prefer to dress our own plates. We can never finish the whole bowl of greens. Not mixing the dressing on the entire salad means we can use the greens for another meal... Stay tuned!





Sunday, April 14, 2019

Palm Sunday Dinner

Dinner at my sister's house is always a special meal. This year Lenore and Ralph outdid themselves with five courses.

First was the Antipasto. Sorry, no photos. And I should have taken a photo of the pickled eggplant. The slices were cut as thin as a string. I have never seen them cut that thin. Oh, and there was pickled beets. They were seasoned with olive oil, garlic, vinegar, and oregano. Wow!


Next was the Dandelion Soup. This year they used dandelions from their garden that were grown with Italian Dandelion Seeds. The broth was sublime and the greens had a nice bitter taste to them. Something along the lines of broccoli rabe. There was a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old at the table who loved this soup.


Homemade pasta with an Asparagus and Scallion Sauce. Perfect.

Next was the Porkette. Seasoned with Fennel. Moist as can be. Peas and carrots rounded out the plate.

Finally dessert. My sister made her Easter Bread, again no photo...

I brought Cannoli Bits. I had found the recipe in the Italian Sons and Daughters of America Newsletter. They were perfect little bites. You did not have to eat a whole cannoli. Not that you shouldn't but after all the food we consumed it was not for a small bit of something sweet. These will be part of my dessert rotation.

Here are the recipe and the story that goes along with it. I would recommend signing up for this weekly newsletter. Lots of interesting stories and recipes.






Saturday, April 13, 2019

Pork Chops with Balsamic Vinegar


Tonight we opened La Cucina, The Regional Cooking of Italy, for our dinner recipe. Pork Chops with Balsamic Vinegar is from the Emilia Romagna region. The recipe was short and easy. I used an Apple Balsamic Vinegar that Chris got me for Christmas. Delicious!

Pork Chops with Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients-
1 lb. pork chops, cut thin
all-purpose flour for dredging
1/4 olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt

Method-
Pound the pork chops to make them very thin, then flour them lightly.
Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the pork and brown on both sides.
Salt and sprinkle the pork with balsamic vinegar.
Serve immediately while the heat is still making the vinegar give off all its fragrance.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

10 Years Ago Tonight

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Twas the night before Easter…

Let's see, doubled the Meat Pie recipe and I ended up with 4 pies. Double the rice pie recipe, need some for a friend at work and ended up with 4 rice pies. It was like the loaves and fishes.
Used my mom's recipe for the meat pie, always delicious. Found a recipe for Traditional Rice Pie online. Have not tried it yet… one more day of no sweets.
Oh yes for dinner I made pasta with tuna and olives. Not bad, but not great.
Long day of baking.

There you have it. How this all started. After a long day of Easter baking, I missed my Mom. I wished I could have picked up the phone and called her. But I could not so I started this little blog. I have not been posting as regularly as I would like to but life does get in the way sometimes.  

It has been an eventful 10 years. I lost my Dad, Chris lost his brother, we said goodbye to two cats, Kramer and Archie. Chris and I have lost a couple of very good friends. But still every night we sit down to dinner. Some of the dinners have been amazing and others well they have not been blogworthy. 


If anyone is even reading this blog, thank you.
And I hope to be around for another 10 years.
Peace and have another glass of wine,
Lucia