Am I one lazy blogger or what?!  I need to get into the groove!  No posts since October...with all the holiday mumbo jumbo...parties, baking, cooking and making EVERYTHING!  It gets a little crazy in this Italian/American household.  One of my many New Years Eve Resolutions is to blog on! lol, amongst other things.  Shall I list?...Okay;


1. Adore my children more.  Time evaporates and one day all the madness that makes us curse at the coffee maker will be a blurr that we will deeply crave.
2. Eat more Kale!  Love this veg:))) I eat it, drink it, and sneak it into whatever I can (don't tell the kids!) They are eating it, loving it and don't know the difference.  This world needs more green love!
3. Amp my mileage (as a runner) without injury!  Last years fracture (1st and hopefully only) really side tracked my training.  No fun to get within 2 weeks of your first Half-Marathon and be booted until your wedding day :(
4. Run said Half-Marathon, or 2, or 3!!!  Well, maybe 1 will do.
5. Tri-Athlon...for sure!  (After I learn how to swim properly).
6. Grow more food.
7. Decide what I will do when I grow up.  Maybe this will be the year??!


Happy 12 everyone!  I hope this is YOUR year!  For whatever inspires you, moves you or makes you...embrace it!  Let's all raise our green glass of goodness to health, tie up our laces for some miles, and love like a Mother!

Viva l'Italia!

AAhhh...Italy...such an amazing, beautiful place.... to get fat!  I gained 5 lbs. this last trip...BUT oh so worth it:)  I guess you could say we ate our way around parts of the country.  Forget the architecture, the culture or the breathtaking views of Lago di Como. My pics are all plates of food!  Lets start with Genova.  In the region of Liguria. We ate some of the best Mediterranean seafood ever!  

Straight from the sea that morning!  Little octopus, (I LOVE octopus!) fish and Shrimp...de-lish.

Zuppa Di Pesce (seafood stew).  Sooo good, it has to be the the Mediterranean sea salty stock they make it with.  I finished the whole bowl:)

My almost finished bowl of mussels, which have an intoxicating  Italian name that has left me since crossing the Atlantic...(I was deep into enjoyment and remembered to snap a pic!)  
In the corner is their world re-known Genovese Pesto.
So simply perfect.  We visited the tiny famous shop where they make it by hand daily, or maybe hourly.

The locals say the line is around the block on Christmas Day:)

Stuff those left overs!

Do you ever not know what to do with left-overs, instead of the boring reheat?  Stuff them!  In phyllo dough that is.  I keep frozen phyllo and puff pastry in my freezer all the time.  Puff pastry will thaw pretty quick on the counter.  Phyllo, you need to know the day before so it can de-thaw slowly in the fridge.
I had some left over cilantro pesto (used on pizza the previous night, some prosciutto cotto (cooked ham) and some about to go bad figs (love those things!)...I made little piles onto squared, thawed phyllo dough with some shredded mozzarella, sealed with a brush of butter (just fold them like a present or an envelope) bake up until brown and they were oh so good!  You can put just about anything into pastry and it will be good, its pastry after all!  No more left overs and nothing goes to waste:)  Luca loved them:)

Hand-made pasta...mmm

I absolutely love making fresh pasta!  For one, it is by far no comparison to the dried variety out there (not that I don't have my go to brand when I am not up for the flour explosion in my kitchen!)  Also, most importantly, my Italian born and bread in the land of bread husband can't get enough of it.  I love to make my man happy, so I gladly break out the hand crank.

~Handmade pasta~

1 egg to every cup of flour

with a splash of olive oil

***For my pasta I use 00 flour (doppio zero) a very finely ground flour. We find ours at an Italian import store in Dallas.  King Arthur also makes a "mock version" that you can order on line.  I also don't use whole eggs, yolks only (organic of course).  I end up adding 2 for 1 then.  I find this combination makes my pasta so delicate and not to mention truly Italian!

Throw everything in the food processor with the dough blade and run until it makes a dough ball...knead on the counter until its smooth (5 min) then wrap it and rest it.  I usually leave it on the granite and seal it to the counter with plastic wrap.  By the time you make your filling or sauce (about 30 minutes), its time to roll pasta!

Ravioli and Cannelloni are my family's favorites.  This week I made;

~Hatch green chili and pork Ravioli with Browned Butter Crumb~

1 left over 1/2 of pork tenderloin

a couple of slices of Prosciutto

3 Hatch Green Chili's (roasted and skinned)

3 Heaping Tbs. Ricotta Cheese

1/2 C. Parmesan cheese

Fresh Thyme

S & P

Fresh Thyme

Bread Crumbs

Butter

Sage

Throw it all in the food processor, (LOVE my food processor...could not cook with out it, I think I would get carpel tunnel from mixing, chopping and kneading!) You then have a filling! Place inside rolled sheet of pasta, a small bit will do, shape into whatever...drop into sea salty boiling water until al dente (JUST done).  I tossed each serving with 2 Tbs. butter, bread crumbs and sage all browned up. So good!

~Tenderloin Sun dried Tomato Cannelloni~

Other half of pork tenderloin (use up those left overs!

Sun dried tomatoes

Parmesan cheese

Ricotta cheese

fresh herbs

...Food processor! Fill hand rolled sheets of fresh pasta with filling, place seam side down, smother with  simple tomato sauce, oven at 350 until bubbly. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve. MMmmmm!

Simple and sweet

For our dolci I used what I had on hand.  A store bought Angel food cake, $3.99, can't beat that!  Fresh berries, preserves from the fridge and a bottle from the liqueur cabinet;

Summer Cake and Blackberries with orange raspberry coulis

1 Angel food cake

½ pint of Blackberries

½ C. orange Marmalade

¼ C. Raspberry preserves

1 shot Gran Marnier liqueur

1 T. Orange zest

Heat marmalade and preserves with Gran Marnier and zest until bubbly.  Add rinsed blackberries, warm and serve over sliced cake.

Serves 4

*A spoon of fresh whipped cream would go so nice. (note to self: buy more at store!)

The meat and grapes of it all...

For our secondo piatto, I imparted a sweetness to the roasting pan.  An unexpected flavor, so tasty:)

Herbed tenderloin of pork roasted with red grape and white onion

2 tenderloin of pork (1 lb. each)

½ C. chopped fresh parsley

2 sprigs chopped fresh sage

1 tsp. fresh thyme

zest of 1 lemon

olive oil

s & p

½ C. red grapes

1 small white onion

s & p pork well. Mix herbs and citrus together and set aside.  Slice onion thin and reserve. sear tenderloins in hot pan (oven safe) with olive oil.  Once browned, remove pan from heat, pile mixed herb blend atop pork, place onions and grapes in pan drizzle entire dish with olive oil and a dash of salt.  Bake at 375 for approx. 25 minutes or until thermometer reads 145.  Take out and rest dish covered for 10 minutes. Slice and serve 1 tenderloin as is with grapes and onions or atop a bed of mixed greens.

(Reserve other pork for ravioli or Pizza Topping!)

Serves 4

50 Recipes and counting...

So I had this very spontaneous urge to throw fate into the wind and...drum roll...audition for the food network show!  Soooo crazy right?  You truely do not ever know unless you try.  Am I a chef? Not yet.  Can I cook?  Well, I can certainly hold my own spoon in the kitchen, so to speak.  I thought that I needed to start putting all of the delicious-ness I prepare on paper for others to enjoy:)
Here goes...In my house we eat "Italian style".  Meaning tablecloth everytime (to catch the crumbs of bread of course).  We enjoy primo (first) and secondi (second) dishes and sometimes something dolci (sweet). 

Primo Piatto

Farfalle with Creamy saffron Tomato Sauce

Farfalle for four (8oz.)

12 campari tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

olive oil

s & p

2 dollops of mascarpone cheese

6 leaves of sage

1 envelope of saffron

quarter tomatoes, toss in hot pan with olive oil, minced garlic and s & p until the tomatoes start to break down and make a sauce.  Add mascarpone, sage and saffron Toss with farfalle which has been cooked al dente (just done) in a pot of sea-salty water.

Serves 4