There are several staples in my fridge, apart from vegetables: milk, eggs, plain yogurt, and quark, or as a back-up, ricotta. I must have picked that up from my mom, who always has a jar or two of quark handy. Quark or ricotta, they are different, but can often be used interchangeably in dishes, sweet or savory. There options are many and the two all-time favorites quark or ricotta-featuring dishes in our house are Quarkauflauf, which you have heard me talk about, and Malfatti. What, you might say? Read on and you’ll find out. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Ricotta to Riches”
Tag: Italian Food
An Instant Classic: Pasta alla Carbonara
My grandmother Omi would call it a cheap meal, but that doesn’t mean that a plate of pasta alla carbonara isn’t a big hit with my boys. The trick is to make it as light as possible and to mix in some greens, peas or zucchini, to make the dish even more nutritious. Here’s to a great dinner winner! Come and cook with us! Continue reading “An Instant Classic: Pasta alla Carbonara”
The Flotte Lotte and What She has to Do with Canning!
It’s best to say YES when Jessica proposes a culinary project. It’s what I did when she said that we should be canning tomatoes. A look at our calendars, a call to Riverdog Farm, a visit to the store to stock up on canning supplies and we were ready to process five large boxes of 2013 Early Girl tomatoes. Come and can with us! Continue reading “The Flotte Lotte and What She has to Do with Canning!”
The Caper Caper
If you like spaghetti alla puttanesca, tartar sauce or chicken piccata, then you must be partial to the taste of capers. Those tiny little dark green things are small in size and big in flavor. They are actually unopened flower buds of the caper plant which is a shrub-like bush that grows, primarily, on two tiny islands in the south of Italy. A few years back, Doug and I went on a trip to one of them, Pantelleria, which is a gorgeous fleck of land closer in proximity, if not culture, to Africa than to Sicily. We enjoyed the clear blue water, explored the beautiful beaches, ran into some old friends from London and learned a lot about capers. They were everywhere! Come and cook with us! Continue reading “The Caper Caper”
Italians are Nuts!
And no, I am not referring to the latest elections which will return my country to political turmoil once again but to the recent news on how a Mediterranean diet is what is best to prevent heart attacks and strokes from cardiovascular disease in people who are at high risk. But what exactly does it mean to eat that way? And is this diet only good for those people who are already at risk or also for the wider population. Our main take-away is that we’ll add more nuts to our diet. Come and cook with us! Continue reading “Italians are Nuts!”
Come and Cook with Us 