I'm not a Chef, I'm Italian...

Lamb Burgers

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Fri, 29 May 2015 12:06:00 +0000

Although legumes and pasta are a dietary staple in Sicily most Sicilians are familiar with lamb meat, it is one of the primary source of animal protein next to chicken and rabbit..or if you live on the coast it would be fish. My parents were from a small valley town where lamb meat was more available. After moving to the U.S. Lamb wasn't as costly as beef and being familiar with preparation of it my mama cooked it weekly for us. She mostly prepared lamb shoulder chops or on a holiday leg of lamb. I too cook this type of lamb for my family but also have ventured out and discovered ground lamb and enjoy making lamb burgers on the grill. I serve it on traditional pita (the kind you can fold) with tzatsiki sauce!! (A yogurt sauce)Which is a Greek condiment compliments this burger so well! No ketchup needed here!!

1 lb ground lamb meat

1/4 cup plain Bread crumbs( gluten free can be used )

1 egg

1/4 Red onion minced

1/4 cup crumbled Feta cheese

1 Garlic clove minced or grated

1/2 tsp dried Oregano or 1 tsp of fresh

1/2 tsp crushed Rosemary leaves or 1 tsp fresh chopped

1/2 tsp each of garlic and onion powder

Sprinkle of sea salt (feta is salty)

1/2 tsp Black pepper

Directions

Place all ingredients in a bowl, mix well with your hands and separate into four patties. Place patty on hot grill and cook for approx 10-12 minutes depending on how thick you make your burger you will have to adjust cooking times.

Unfortunately I didn't take pics of them cooked!!

Buon Appetito!

Lucia

Pesto Genovese

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 16:33:00 +0000

*photos and recipes are property of im not a chef im italian and copyright protected!

As the warm weather here in the south approaches I am excited at the thought of starting my fresh herb and vegetable garden. That thought brings me back to childhood and the fresh herbs and vegetables that continuously came from my father's garden all summer, fresh basil, tomato, eggplant. I begin to sow my seeds in pots indoors to start growing my plants that will fill my summer garden. With that I can't wait to make my first batch of Pesto. In my kitchen pesto is not just for saucing pasta. I use it for grilled fish, shrimp, chicken, vegetables....and in summer salads. Here I share with you a generational basic recipe for Pesto. My mom would make it for pasta, but because I love it so much I discovered many different ways to enhance other dishes. This makes about one cup of pesto. Save the rest in a glass jar in your refrigerator.

Pesto Genovese

Ingredients:

4 cups Fresh Basil leaves
3/4 cup Good Extra Virgin Olive oil
2-3 cloves Garlic
1/4 cup Pignoli nuts (Pine Nuts)
1/4 cup Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
1 tsp Coarse grain salt
1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

In a blender combine basil, oil, garlic, nuts, cheese, salt, and red pepper. Blend on high until it resembles a sauce. You can adjust any ingredient from the garlic to red pepper to your taste.

Buon Appetito!!

Enjoy

Lucia

Sausage, Potato, Peppers and Onions

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 23:43:00 +0000

*pictures and recipe are property of "imnotachefimitalian" and are copyrighted!!

On some days I am a big fan of one pot or in this case one roasting pan dishes! This is just a different spin on a classic Italian-American dish of Sausage and Peppers. It's a quick and easy way to put together a nutritious homemade meal. Add a salad as a side. Growing up sausage and peppers was usually reserved for large party like gatherings where my mom had a lot of people to feed. Today I sporadically make it this way for my family and they love it!

Ingredients

5-6 links of Italian spiced chicken, turkey or pork sausage

5-6 Yukon, red or any roasting potatoes peeled and quartered

1 large red bell pepper sliced

1 large green bell pepper sliced

1 med onion sliced

1/4 cup Olive oil

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Onion powder

1 tsp Garlic powder

Sea or kosher salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut sausage links in halves or thirds, place all ingredients except spices in roasting pan or casserole dish. Drizzle olive oil over ingredients. Measure out each spice in a small bowl mix together and sprinkle over the sausage and vegetables evenly, now toss with your hands so that the oil and spices are distributed evenly. Cover with aluminum foil bake covered for 30 minutes now remove foil, toss with a spatula and bake for another 30 minutes. You want the sausage and potatoes to brown up. Depending on the heat in your oven you might need to turn on broil for the last 10 minutes to roast a bit.

*please keep in mind these spices are a base you can add more or less to taste I sprinkle by eye. I don't measure. You can too!!

Enjoy!

Lucia

Chicken Pot Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 23:03:00 +0000

Ok here's a little deviation from my usual recipes...One of my family's favorite non Italian meals! I guess this is a semi homemade meal. I use pre made crusts but you can make your own!!

1-2 to 3 lb whole chicken, cooked and removed from bones/skin chopped up

1-16 oz bag frozen organic mix vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, green beans) defrosted

1 large baking potato peeled and diced small

1/4 cup flour

1/2 stick of butter

3 cups of homemade chicken stock/or boxed broth

1/2 tsp Thyme

1 tsp kosher or sea Salt

Black pepper

1 cup of heavy cream or half n half

Crust:

4 rolled Refrigerated Pie Crust or homemade pie crust

Pre heat oven to 375'. Melt butter in the bottom of a heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven, add potatoes, vegetables and chicken. Sprinkle flour over and mix together. Cook for a little bit. Now add broth, thyme, salt, pepper and cream. Cook for about 5 min on low the mixture will slightly get thick. Remove from heat, taste for seasoning add more salt now if it needs salt.

At this point you can pour into a casserole dish, and cover with pastry. My family likes crust on the bottom and top, so I need four pie crusts (if you are purchasing crust). I lay crust on the bottom and sides. Then fill with chicken veggie mixture and top with remaining pie crust. My pot pie is very rustic looking.

Bake for about 40 minutes uncovered, remove and let cool 10-15 min before cutting.

Thyme Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 13:53:00 +0000

Mushrooms are a simple, nutritious side loaded with vitamins complimenting any protein meal.

I package of white, baby Bella, or Cremini mushrooms (whole)

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 tsp Butter

Sea Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1/4 tsp dry Thyme or 1/2 fresh Thyme

Rinse or wipe your mushrooms. Quarter them. Heat a sauté pan over medium heat add oil. Place mushrooms in sauté pan, add salt, pepper and thyme. Cook for approx 10 minutes until the mushrooms start browning up. Now add your butter and toss.

Torrone (Sicilian Almond Nougat)

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Sat, 20 Dec 2014 15:10:00 +0000

The coveted almond. Everywhere you turn today you hear how nutritious and healthy the almond is. If you're gluten free almond flour is the replacement for most of the recipes that use white flour.

For the Sicilians, we already knew this information long ago. The island of Sicily is covered in almond, olive and lemon trees. Many of our recipes include one of these items. You ate what grew in your region and that's how the recipes developed.

For me the American born Sicilian my memories of visiting Sicily every summer with my parents included daily visits to my Zio's campagna ( my uncles country house). At his campagna we picked the almond from the tree, cracked it open with a rock on the cement and ate those beautiful milky almonds right from the center....we ate until either we got tired of cracking them open or until we were going to bust. You can never appreciate the beauty and the taste of that almond until you have had it in that raw state. (Below is a picturewhat the almond fruit looks like growing on the tree)

This is why many Sicilian dessert recipes whether it be cookies, candies or cakes are made with almonds. In my childhood home the nut bowl (in their respective shells, with the nutcracker of course) always made an appearance at the end of the Sunday or holiday meal, right along side of the fruit..

Here I share the recipe for Torrone..a special occasion treat.. You'll need good strong biceps for stirring the last step of this dish!!

2 cups of unsalted roasted almonds

1 cup of white sugar

4 tbsp of water

2 tbsp of white vinegar

About 1 tbsp of orange or lemon zest

Put all the ingredients together in a pot on the stove at medium flame
Use a wooden spoon and slowly mix all the ingredients
Continue stirring the sugar will start to melt. Mix continuously.
The sugar will then crystallize again... Continue to stir. Do not stop stirring. This is where you need strong biceps.
I promise the sugar will melt again and once it is completely melted and the color is Amber remove the pot from the flame and pour the content on a sheet of aluminum foil. The entire cooking process is about 20 minutes.
With a spatula quickly flatten the hot almonds to form a sheet about 3/4" thick.
Let it cool for about 5 minutes and with a chefs knife cut the entire sheet in squares of about 2" on each side.
Be careful to remove the aluminum foil from all the pieces and let them completely cool off.

Variation: you can use half honey, half sugar to make it a little more nutritious.

Enjoy

Buon Appetito!👌

Lucia

Stuffed Artichokes Sicilian Style

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 14:08:00 +0000

I love artichokes. Steamed, stuffed, grilled...anyway!! I grew up eating these all the time when they were in season. In the Sicilian culture artichokes are a staple. Especially stuffed with a cheesy breadcrumb mixture. As a child I would lovingly work my way down to the yummy heart of the artichoke like it was the prize in a Cracker Jack box!! To prepare them it is a bit labor some but the reward is worth it.

3 Medium sized artichokes cut and trimmed

1/2 yellow onion chopped finely

1 clove of garlic chopped finely

3 tbsp of olive oil

1 cup italian seasoned breadcrumbs (see my archived recipe)

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Salt

Black pepper

Extra olive oil for drizzling

Clean and trim artichokes. Sprinkle with salt. On medium heat sauté your onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent.

Add you breadcrumb and cheese and continue "toasting" your crumb mixture. Remove from heat once your mixture has browned. Take a heavy bottomed pot and fill about two inches high with water. Set aside. Next take your crumb mixture and divide into three portions eyeballing it. You'll need to gently spread apart the leaves from the middle of your artichoke. Now stuff your first artichoke

and the remaining two. Place each artichoke in the pot with water. Making sure they are tightly packed you don't want them falling over. Drizzle a little olive oil over each one. Cover the pot with a tight lid. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer for about one hour. The artichokes are done when you can insert a fork down through the middle. Similar to a cooked potato.

Simple Marinara Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 20:46:00 +0000

Growing up there was always a bowl of marinara sauce in our fridge. It was a component to many meals and was important to keep on hand. Just as you would keep a jar of store bought sauce in your pantry, we kept homemade marinara in our fridge or freezer. When I show you how simple it is to make you will never buy it again. If the simplicity of making it doesn't win you, the taste difference will. Have you ever looked at the ingredients in a store purchased jar? if it isn't organic or made with quality ingredients you are purchasing a jar of chemicals/preservatives. Now you will use a can or carton of tomato but everything else will be fresh ingredients.

16 ounce container/can/carton of whole tomatoes (I used my jar of fresh canned)
1 cup of water
2 Tbsp of Extra virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 Tsp of crushed red pepper

Sea salt to taste
2-3 leaves of fresh basil chopped or 1tsp dried
1/4 cup of grated romano cheese
Immersion blender or regular blender

Sauté the garlic and crushed red pepper in the olive oil on medium heat until fragrant. Pour in your tomatoes, with the juice add your water and use your immersion blender to break down the tomatoes, or place your tomatoes in your blender without the cup of water and blend then add to pot and add water. Season with salt. Bring to a boil reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat add your basil, at this point if you are adding your grated cheese do so now (this is optional) I like to add it because it balances out the acidity of the tomatoes.

Remember any of the spices can be decreased or increased to your taste these are my standards. This sauce is versatile you can use it to top chicken, veal or eggplant parm or to make eggs in purgatory ( something we ate a lot of growing up) but that's another recipe 😊

Buon Appetito!!

Butternut Squash Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 12:41:00 +0000

I truly love the fall season the weather, the leaves and the seasons available produce. Especially the different varieties of squash. Some of my favorite soups are fall soups. As you can tell by my recipe list I love making soups probably one of the reasons I love this season just so that I can make soups! We did eat a lot of soups growing up there were a lot of mouths to feed on a struggling immigrants budget. My mom could take anything and make a delicious healthy meal. Here I show you a very easy and fulfilling tasty Butternut Squash soup.

Ingredients

I medium sized butternut squash or

4 pkgs frozen cubed butternut squash

1/4 cup olive or coconut oil (melted)

Sea salt sprinkled

Black pepper sprinkled

Granulated garlic sprinkled

Onion powder sprinkled

Rosemary lightly sprinkled

4 cups stock chicken or vegetable

1/4 cup half and half

Place squash on baking sheet sprinkle your spices and drizzle with oil. Roast in oven set at 375 for 20 minutes if using frozen, if using fresh 40 min or until it is soft and pierce able with a fork.

Remove and place in a pot add 4 cups of stock, bring to a boil, next with an immersion blender, or place in a blender and blend until smooth. If you are using a blender place back in pot.

Season to taste (salt/pepper). Now mix in half and half.

My garnish was caramelized onions (optional)

Enjoy!

Buon Appetito

Lucia

Simple Polenta

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 20:24:00 +0000

Polenta is made from ground yellow cornmeal into a porridge, don't confuse it with grits. You can serve it creamy as I have given here, or chilled and cut into squares then baked or fried. We didn't eat much of this growing up as it is not a Sicilian dish but from the mountain areas of Italy. Although it wasn't served in my childhood home I have honed my Polenta making skills in my own kitchen and developed my own recipes using this creamy satisfying comfort food. It is very simple to make yet many people shy away from making it.

Ingredients

6 cups of water or chicken stock
2 teaspoons of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1 3/4 cups of yellow cornmeal
4 Tablespoons of butter

1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

Bring water/stock to a boil in a heavy bottomed pot, add only half the salt if you are using stock. Wisk in the cormeal gradually. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until it starts to get thick and the cornmeal softens, make sure you continue to stir often cooking for at least 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and add butter, grated cheese, heavy cream and pepper.

I use polenta as a base for my meals, the carb or starch of the meal. Serve with scallops, sausage and peppers, chicken cacciatore, chili etc...the possiblilites are endless!!

Clean out your fridge Vegetable Soup (Minestra)

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 19:27:00 +0000

Periodically I have an over abundance of produce in my refrigerator, some weeks I cook less often than others because of birthday dinners, family get togethers or eating out too often...I remember my mom doing this with leftovers just throwing stuff in a pot with some small pasta and creating a delicious meal...

Nothing I mean nothing got wasted in our house growing up for two reasons: one being there were always at least 10-15 people at the table several times a week and food went fast. The other reason was I grew up with a dad that lived and served in WWII and food was rationed in Sicily so we were not ever allowed to throw away food, waste food or leave food on our plates (my waist and hips thank him profusely for that..Sarcasm

This soup is loaded with nutrients health in a bowl, low in calories and very filling. The key to making any really good soup is two things: the sautéing the aromatics (your base garlic, onions, celery, carrots) and using bay leaves (I prefer fresh ones) but the dried will work as well. This produces a soup that you say WOW this is really good!!

Ingredients

2-TBSP Refined coconut oil, or 1/4 cup olive oil
4-Celery Stalks chopped
1-Medium Yellow Onion peeled and chopped
2-Large Carrots peeled and cubed
4-Garlic cloves minced
4-5 Yukon gold potatoes or what ever you have peeled and cubed if you use bigger potatoes then only 2
1 Head of Bok Choy washed and chopped or what ever you have in fridge!!
2 Bay Leaves
Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)
2-32 oz Containers of Vegetable broth or water.

Directions

In a large soup pot heat oil over medium heat add your celery, onion, carrots, bay leaves and garlic. Saute for approx. 10 minutes until they have softened a bit and the bottom of the pot gets a little brown (creates flavor) then add your potato, bok choy, salt and pepper. Any vegetable that you pick you want to add in the beginning if it has a hard stem, and add any leaves towards the end so they don't completely break down in the cooking process (this is what I did when I added the bok choy).
Now add your broth or water. If you are using water be sure to add enough salt, the vegetable broth will have sodium(salt) in it, so you will use less if you use the broth. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce heat to simmer and cook for 45 minutes to one hour, it depends on the veggies used taste for doneness, and adjust seasonings.

Now at this point you could add some small pasta orzo, ditalini or just a huge hunk of Italian bread. I would cook the pasta separately if you wanted to add it, the starch of the pasta thickens the soup if you cook it in there.

Ladle into your bowl and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of grated cheese....

Escarole Soup (Zuppe di Scarola)

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:46:00 +0000

Escarole is similar to lettuce but in the chicory/endive family...not as bitter though. You can eat it raw, but I never have. I grew up eating this leaf cooked preferably in a soup. This was a weekly meal especially in the winter, my mother made this with Chick peas/Garbanzo beans most of the time or just plain as I have shared here. It wasn't my favorite thing to eat as a child, my favorite part was dipping the bread into the salty olive oily broth (I think all ate when escarole was on the menu). Now as an adult I love to make it for my family and I have experimented with different ways of making it interesting, it is not a fan of my daughters but my husband LOVES it and will ask often for it if I have gone for a while with out making it!! This is a quick nutritious vitamin packed meal. High in vitamin A, C and has some calcium benefits...and of course fiber!! There are so many different ways to make this soup, adding northern beans, sausage, mini meatballs the list is endless. This recipe is a basic starter.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 Garlic cloves minced

1 Large head of escarole washed well and chopped

1-2 Large Roma tomato chopped

Salt and black pepper to taste

4 cups of Chicken Broth (Purchased or homemade stock)

Serve with Crusty Bread and grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and tomato saute until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the escarole and saute until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt. Add the chicken broth. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with grated cheese over each bowl. Serve with crusty bread.

Grilled Lemon Zucchini

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 23:44:00 +0000

One of my favorite veggies Zucchini is packed with Vitamins C and A, potassium, folate, and fiber. All contribute to a healthy heart by decreasing the risk of stroke, reducing high blood pressure, and lowering cholesterol. It is so versatile below is one of my new favorite and SIMPLE ways of preparing it.

Ingredients

3 medium Zucchini

Coconut oil (refined)see note below

Lemon zest and juice

Salt, pepper to taste

Olive oil

Grated cheese

Directions

Slice zucchini, rub the grill pan with coconut oil, over medium heat sear each side of zucchini cooking in batches, place on platter and season zucchini with olive oil,salt, pepper, zested lemon, grated cheese and drizzle with lemon juice.

Refined coconut oil has no coconut flavor, I use coconut oil for health benefits you can sub olive oil.

Greek Cucumber Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 12:00:00 +0000

This is definitely not an Italian dish but I love Greek food. Italians and Greeks share the love of lamb meat. Which pairs well with this and is refreshing accompaniment to any main dish of meat or fish, this cucumber-yogurt salad also makes a yummy filling for pita bread. If the cucumbers are grated instead of chopped, this mixture can be served as a dip.

Ingredients

1 large cucumber peeled
Salt
1/4 c plain GREEK style yogurt
1 tsp lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, minced and mashed
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp dried dill or 1 tsp fresh chopped
1 tsp olive oil
Preparation

Cut cucumber in half and seed. Cut cucumber boat in half lengthwise and then halve each quarter. Cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Place in bowl, over a sieve, sprinkle salt on top, toss and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
Combine yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, pepper, and dill in a medium bowl. Stir in the oil briskly.
Drain the cucumbers, return them to the bowl, pour the yogurt mixture over and toss well.

Adapted from Eating Well Magazine,1990

Sicilian Style Eggplant alla Parmigiana

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 20:36:00 +0000

Ingredients

2 Large eggplants peeled and sliced 1/4 inch rounds

1 cup of Olive oil

Salt, pepper

2 cups Tomato Sauce warmed

1 cup Mozzarella cheese (shredded)

1/4 cup Fresh Basil cut in chiffonades

1/4 cup Grated Pecorino Romano

9x12 baking dish

Directions:

Take sliced eggplant and layer in a colander over a bowl (the bowl will catch the water released by the eggplant)each layer will be sprinkled with salt. Let sit for 1-2 hours. This process removes the bitterness of the eggplant.

Take olive oil and heat over medium heat in a fry pan. You need to have about one inch of oil to fry. You will probably need to add oil as you go, make sure it's nice and hot before you add more eggplant!!

Remove eggplant from colander and blot each piece with a paper towel.

Then place eggplant into fry pan and cook until golden brown on each side.

While you are doing this set out a platter layered with papertowel. You will place each piece of eggplant as you remove from fry pan. Keep layering papertowel as you remove eggplant from pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take your baking dish and place a thin layer of sauce on the bottom layer eggplant on bottom sprinkle with salt and pepper, spread a thin layer of sauce on each piece of eggplant, over the whole layer sprinkle with grated cheese, mozzarella cheese and basil, repeat until you have no more eggplant. The last layer should have mozzarella cheese at the top. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool and slice in squares as you would lasagna.

Verdure alla Griglia (Grilled Vegetables)

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Aahh summer...I enjoy cooking in the summer months because I can just about grill anything!! I especially miss grilled veggies in the winter so I go overboard in the summer and grill them a lot. I do that anyway anyhow, plain, spiced, dressed etc...this recipe was for a party I simply spiced them up.

All you need is a grill and a pretty platter.

Ingredients

2 medium Zucchini

2 medium yellow squash

3 ears of corn

Container of small peppers

3 portobello mushrooms

Asparagus

Olive oil

Grated Romano cheese

Salt

Pepper

Granulated garlic

Onion powder

Oregano

Toss your veggies in a little olive oil and place on a hot grill, cook until you get those beautiful grill marks and the veggies are somewhat soft.

Arrange on your platter

Drizzle some olive oil on everything, sprinkle with all the spices (to taste) and grated cheese and garnish with some fresh basil chiffonades!! Viola and this is served at room temperature.

Keep in mind you can grill just about anything your heart desires.

Enjoy!

😘

Grilled Artichokes

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 12:20:00 +0000

My love of artichokes started at a very young age. We ate artichokes many different ways, my all time favorite was when my mother would stuff them the Sicilian way...with onions, garlic, breadcrumb and spices.....today you can buy artichoke "hearts" in a can, frozen, in a jar with oil, and now just the artichoke bottom. The bottoms are a score! When you eat through a fresh artichoke the bottom is the prize and what you are working towards. The artichoke hearts that you buy today are great for salads, frittatas, antipasto, dips etc. This recipe is for a fresh whole artichoke grilled, although I too love to stuff them. I opt for a healthier option these days and choose to grill!

Ingredients

2 large artichokes

Olive oil

Sea salt

Black pepper

Serrated bread knife

Directions

Pre heat your grill. Cut off artichoke stem, reserve. Cut off 1 inch from the top of the artichoke. Remove outer leaves by off.Cut in quarters. Remove the inner hairs and some of the leaves. Place bottom down in pot with two inches of water. Sprinkle with salt. Bring water to boil, cover pot and lower flame. Steam for about 20 minutes. Stick with a fork to check for doneness should be able to pierce, you want it cooked 3/4 of the way, it will finish cooking on the grill. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on them.

Remove from pot place right on HOT grill. Turning only once after approx. 10 minutes you want each side charred.

Remove from grill, on the inside part sprinkle with salt, black pepper and drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy!

Lucia

Roasted Peppers

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 12:22:00 +0000

We love roasted peppers on salads, sandwiches or in an antipasto. I have been getting extra peppers in my organic box lately so I decided to roast these beautiful yellow peppers. I didn't photograph every step but hope you get the idea. It is very simple to do and so much better than the canned or jarred variety you buy.

What you need:

4 yellow, red, or orange peppers

Grill

Bowl and a sheet of aluminum foil/or a paper bag

Put the whole pepper on the grill, turn occasionally as the pepper browns/blackens.

Remove when all sides have been roasted, place in bowl and cover set aside for 30-45 minutes.

Uncover and start pulling the skin off the pepper, the seeds and stem.

Then place in storage container in fridge or you can freeze them to defrost and use as needed.

When you are ready to use season with salt, pepper, fresh chopped garlic and olive oil. Then pair with a salad or on a sandwich.

Enjoy,

Lucia

Potato stacks

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 20:01:00 +0000

Never have met potatoes I did not like but these were sooo good, some of the more thinly sliced ones became crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

4-5 Yukon gold or Russett potatoes

Olive oil

Rosemary

Sea salt

Black pepper

Preheat oven convection on 400. Peel potatoes, slice. Drizzle baking sheet with olive oil. Arrange in single layer the potatoes sprinkle your spices and place in oven. Half way through cooking when they start to brown flip each slice and continue to bake until golden brown!

Grilled Pork Ribs with homemade sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 20:41:00 +0000

I never had ribs growing up, we ate mostly Italian food so I had to teach myself how to cook ribs. Ribs are one of my husbands favorite things I make for him. We buy locally pasture raised pork ribs from Mills farms. I don't care for any bottled style sauce, mostly because of the hickory smoke flavor. I have honed in on my own rib sauce recipe which lends to a sweeter rib.

Ingredients

1 cup Ketchup (my shortcut buy the one without High fructose corn syrup)
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup of water
Rack of Pork Ribs

Instructions

I start with boiling the ribs. Place ribs in a large pot cover the ribs with water, sometimes I throw bottle of beer in the water too. Bring ribs to a boil and boil covered for 15 minutes. While the ribs are cooking I assemble and cook my sauce. In a sauce pan combine ketchup, honey, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, garlic powder, and water. Chop your onions and add those as well. Stir to combine. Bring sauce to a boil reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir often.

Remove ribs from water place on grill and slather with sauce on both sides and cook ribs on each side about 10 minutes.

Cut ribs, serve and enjoy!

🇮🇹Lucia

Homemade Bread Crumbs

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 21:53:00 +0000

Have you ever turned your breadcrumb container around and read what was in the ingredients? Well you should, there are a lot of things listed you cannot pronounce...yuck. Of course bread crumbs are only as good as the quality of bread and spices used. Therefore, the quality of ingredients will be based on what you put into the crumb mixture. Which then will directly affect the taste of the item you are coating with it! I often buy plain bread crumbs and season them myself, these days I use a gluten free panko bread crumb in a pinch. Below is the recipe for making breadcrumbs from scratch A-Z....

Pre heat your oven 350' Choose your bread, and place in the food processor or blender and pulse until the bread is a crumbly consistency. Now spread out evenly on a cookie sheet and place in oven to dry them out probably 15-20 min depending on your oven. Remove and let cool. You now have plain breadcrumbs. Store in an airtight container.

Seasoning

1 cup of plain bread crumbs (regular or Glutenfree)

1 tsp salt of your choice I use sea/kosher/or Himalayan

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp rosemary

1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese ( I use 1/2 because I love to really taste the cheese)

Place in a bowl and mix.

Veal Milanese

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 14:16:00 +0000

This is a simple recipe for veal cutlet, there's not much to say about this Italian staple. In Italy we eat a lot of veal. Prepared in many different styles, this just happens to be my favorite. I don't fry many things anymore but I will not compromise Veal Milanese it should only be fried any other preparation method will yield a chewy dry cutlet!! This recipe can be used for chicken cutlet as well.

1 lb of Veal Cutlet (scallopini)

2 Eggs beaten

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup Grated Romano Cheese

Parsley (fresh or dried) if fresh chop up

1 cup Seasoned breadcrumbs (Italian style) for Gluten free use GF breadcrumbs (panko is best)

Olive oil for frying

Place your olive oil in a fry pan, you want the pan filled about 1/2 inch with oil, preheat your oil while you prepare veal, medium heat. Pound out each cutlet, beat your eggs and season with salt, pepper and parsley. Mix your breadcrumbs with the grated cheese in a bowl where you will be able to coat veal.

Now dip veal in egg,

Then into breadcrumbs, coat both sides

Then place in hot oil, make sure your oil is hot enough, fry and do not flip until you see the red juice puddle on top of veal piece when this happens its ready to flip, cook for another few minutes. Then remove from the oil and place on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil.

See my recipe post for breadcrumbs, I never purchase pre seasoned I like to make my own.

These can be topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese to make veal parmigiana.

Enjoy

Lucia🍅

Meatballs (Polpetti)

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:37:00 +0000

Growing up we ate pasta with tomato sauce and in that tomato sauce it was standard to have meatballs and or some other kind of meat as well cooked in the sauce. I usually woke up to the smell of the sauce cooking on Sunday mornings and my breakfast was to dip a hunk of bread into that pot of sauce and fish myself out a meatball. Sunday was family meal day in my mother and fathers home, it wasn't unusual that there were ten to fifteen people around that table to feast on the Sunday dinner. I hold that tradition today with my own family sometimes it's just the three of us! Here's my recipe...

3lbs of Ground Beef.....(1lb sirloin, 1lb ground round, 1lb chuck) on occasion I replace the sirloin with ground veal)
1 cup bread crumbs (seasoned is best) substitute Gluten Free
3 slices of any bread soaked in milk (and then squeezed dry) omit for gluten free
3 cloves of finely chopped FRESH garlic
3 eggs
1 cup of grated Romano cheese
3 Tbsp of finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1 Tbsp of Kosher or Sea Salt
Black pepper

In a bowl with the meat combine bread crumbs, bread, garlic, eggs, grated cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix together with your hands making sure everything gets combined well. Now take a little bit of the mixture and cook it in the microwave so that you can taste it for seasonings.

Every good cook checks for taste!! At this point, if it needs more salt or pepper add it, otherwise you are ready to roll!!

I like my meatballs to be uniform in size so I use the old time ice cream scoop..you can use what ever you have or not use anything at all. I use a jelly roll baking pan to bake my meatballs, anything you can bake in or on will work fine.

Scoop them all and then roll. I use a bowl of water to wet my hands as I roll, it makes for a smooth meatball. They should be tightly placed together on the baking sheet. Once they are ready for the oven I put a 1/4 of an inch of water in the bottom of the pan so the meatballs cook evenly and stay moist. Cook for approximately 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown in color. Remove from the oven and place each meatball one by one in the pot of sauce.

Enjoy

Buon Appetito

Lucia

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:40:00 +0000

I can't think of a better occasion to make chocolate covered strawberries than Valentines Day. They are simple to make and are just devine, one of my many guilty pleasures!! Two simple ingredients....

Ingredients:

1lb of Strawberries
4oz Bar of Baking Milk Chocolate sweetened
4oz Bar of Baking Dark Chocolate sweetened

Melt chocolates over low simmering boiled water......

Use a skewer to dip strawberry......

Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place strawberries on to cool and harden, I put them either outside, in the garage or refrigerator.

Antipasto Appetizer-Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Lucia) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:40:00 +0000

This is an appetizer I assembled for a party I went to over the holidays. It was fun and easy to assemble. You can replace any items in place of what I used, creativity here is the key!! Below is a list of what I used and how I assembled it.

Fun antipasto appetizer

Package of appetizer size skewers

Grape tomatoes

Green Olives-pitted

Black Olives-pitted

Fresh mozzarella bocconcini (small balls)

Genoa Salami (sandwich size,folded in half, then in half again)

Pepperoni (sandwich size, folded in half, then in half again)

Fresh Basil leaves

I'm not a Chef, I'm Italian...

Lamb Burgers

Pesto Genovese

Sausage, Potato, Peppers and Onions

Chicken Pot Pie

Thyme Mushrooms

Torrone (Sicilian Almond Nougat)

Stuffed Artichokes Sicilian Style

Simple Marinara Sauce

Butternut Squash Soup

Simple Polenta

Clean out your fridge Vegetable Soup (Minestra)

Escarole Soup (Zuppe di Scarola)

Ingredients

Directions

Grilled Lemon Zucchini

Greek Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

Preparation

Sicilian Style Eggplant alla Parmigiana

Verdure alla Griglia (Grilled Vegetables)

Grilled Artichokes

Roasted Peppers

Potato stacks

Grilled Pork Ribs with homemade sauce

Homemade Bread Crumbs

Veal Milanese

Meatballs (Polpetti)

Every good cook checks for taste!! At this point, if it needs more salt or pepper add it, otherwise you are ready to roll!!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Antipasto Appetizer-Fun!