What separates the Italians from the "I" -talians

As most of you know I am expecting another baby in December.  I have been trying to eat healthy foods, but this last week I just craved something hearty and something to "stick-to-your ribs".  I have a recipe for Alfredo Sauce, but I wanted one that was REALLY good.  So, I looked up Emeril's recipe on the Food Network.

As I was looking at the comments about it, I came across one that was pretty pretentious, but it caught my eye as it said, "I have enjoyed Fettucine Alfredo in several restaurants throughout Italy, including the original "Alfredo's Ristarante" and... not one of them used cream...."    Then it got me wondering, "What do they use?"  I then looked up Alfredo's Ristarante in Rome and found the story of the creation of Alfredo Sauce.  

Here's the link and the story: Alfredo's Ristarante of Rome  "The Original Fettuccine Alfredo was created in 1914 by Alfredo Di Lelio, concocted to tempt the palate of his pregnant wife who had lost her appetite.  Alfredo went to his kitchen, mixed egg noodles with the finest parmigiano cheese and butter and created a dish even his wife couldn't resist.  The rest is history!"  I felt I could really relate with this story.

I went to our local, Italian bakery and got some fresh fettucine (I could have made my own, but didn't quite have that much energy) and some imported proscuitto to add to the dish. (Note: Imported is so much better than the Domestic.) Then I went to the local grocery store and bought fresh, grated Parmigiano cheese and went home to make this meal.  Here's the recipe link: Alfredo Sauce Recipe.

I cut up the proscuitto and cooked it and the peas separately because you don't actually cook the sauce.   The secret to cooking proscuitto is to not cook it too long because it will dry out and be crunchy.  Make sure you keep a careful watch on it.  As soon as it's heated through, shut it off!  (And, yes, I already knew this and did it right.)

 Then I pulsed the room temp. butter and cheese in my food processor and waited for the noodles to be done.  Look at how soft and fluffy it is!

Then I mixed it all together and got a great response from my husband and girls.  Aubrey wanted 3 bowls and Angelina asked for another helping.  Jeremy's response was, "Wow!  This is amazing!"  I think it was a hit!  Look at how nicely it coats the noodles. 

In short, this, my friends, is what separates the true Italians from the "I"-talians.  (You know the want-to-bes who annoyingly pronouce it "eye"talian!)  Who would have thought that there was such a science to a good Alfredo Sauce?  Enjoy!

South of the Border

This meal has to be one of my favorites not only because it's so colorful, but also because it's so easy to make and has so many wonderful flavors!

This is my infamous Taco Chicken.  Put taco seasoning in a ziplock bag.  Place a piece of chicken in the bag and shake it until coated (like shake-n-bake) and then bake in the oven at 425 for 20 min. or until done.  For the last 5 minutes, I put a jar of salsa over the chicken until the salsa is heated through.  To serve top with shredded cheese (I use Monterey Jack), a dallop of sour cream, and sliced black olives.  Serve with some rice, pico de gallo, and guacamole and you're done!

 I make my guacamole very simply because I want to taste as much of the avocado without drowning it in other stuff.  Mine consists of mashed avocado, 1 clove of fresh, pressed garlic, and juice from 1/2 of a lime. Mix until blended.

I also made bean and cheese dip - I know there is a name for this, but I can't think of it now.  Anyway, it's not very diet friendly, but it sure tastes good with the tortilla chips with a hint of lime.   I tried to at least help myself a little by getting the fat-free refried beans!  I found this cheese sauce and just mixed it together with the beans and microwaved it until heated through.

I asked the girls to help set the table that night.  I came out to find them so proud of themselves because they made a Mickey Mouse out of the plates and silverware.  You never know what you're going to get when you ask 4 yr. olds to help!  You do get a good laugh sometimes though. 

Here's a Delicious Meal

This is one of my favorite meals:  Mediterranean Chicken  and Braised Lentils.  These flavor combinations make for an eater's paradise!   The nice thing about this menu is that it is fairly inexpensive to make but tastes like a million bucks!

I just made Chocolate Ricotta Mousse the other night.  It is super easy and oh, so good!  It literally took me about 5 minutes to make.

Just a quick tip:  Melt the chocolate in the microwave (use glass - chocolate gets really hot and will melt your plastic and in turn burn you) in 30 second intervals until melted.

Breakfast for Dinner

Some nights you just want something easy and hearty for dinner and this recipe did not fail to please.  Yes, the entire family liked it!  I made a few substitutions based on what I had available, but it was very tasty.  This is called The Eggberts Sunriser from Pioneer Woman.  She has a really great site if you need some recipe ideas.

Here was our version.  I like my eggs over-easy.

I made the girls' portions with scrambles eggs, since they're not big fans over over-easy yet.

 

Then I made breakfast for breakfast!  Doesn't this look good?  Homemade blueberry muffins with fresh strawberries and raspberries.  I forgot to include the butter in the recipe, so it was even less fattening than the original recipe.  Also, I only used 3/4 cup of the yogurt because I ran out.  I finished the cup with homemade applesauce.  They turned out great!  (That butter is only 1 tsp. even though it looks like alot!)

 

I'm still here and cooking...

Well, April proved to be a whirlwind starting with my husband getting laid-off and then a trip to NC for a long weekend turned into a week long visit due to my Dad having emergency surgery upon our arrival.  Then 2 weeks after getting home we had to return for my Grandmother's funeral.  One thing my Grandma and I held in common was our love to cook.  She was an amazing Italian cook.  I'll have to pull out some of her recipes and share them sometime (at least the ones that I haven't been sworn to secrecy with!).  So, then May and June have flown by and my sister just reminded me that I really need to post again. 

I have been cooking some pretty good stuff - here's some of it:

Here is a London Broil that I marinated in my favorite recipe from the first cookbook that I ever owned - given to me by my Grandma, Bon Appetit, Entertaining with Style.   The recipe calls for flank steak, but I found that a London Broil does well too, is less expensive, and is nice and thick and tender.
Marinade Recipe - Grilled Flank Steak with Rosemary

Marinate the meat overnight for the best flavor:

I served this with baked potatoes, fresh fruit salad, and a tossed salad.  My fruit salad was so good.  It was cut up fresh pineapple, mangoes, strawberries, & blueberries.  It really hit the spot! 

My tossed salad included cucumbers that I learned a neat, little trick years ago from my Uncle (another amazing, Italian chef).  Just slide fork prongs down the skin of the cucumber and then slice.  They look really cool and the skin isn't as tough.  This way you're getting all the vitamins the cucumber has to offer!

Mmm, Mmm Good

Here are some of the fantastical feasts we've had in the last month:

St. Patrick's Day we made this Beef Irish Stew and Colcannon w/ham.  My friend, Mandy, made the best Irish Soda Bread and 2 Apple-Ginger pies.   Sadly, the only thing I remembered to take a picture of was the stew!

Next I made french macarons for my sister's birthday.  They turned out great!  I had some flops too, but they tasted good.  We had those for snacks at our St. Patrick's Day party.  I used about 4 different recipes for these, so I'm not going to post any links because it's just too difficult to tell you what I used from each one.  I will say that some people say to be very careful not to over fold the egg whites.  However, I found that once I beat them into total submission they worked better!

I made the Chicken Pomodoro for dinner, but felt I really wanted more to go with the meal but not pasta.  I put it on a bed of spinach - it was amazing!!!

I found a recipe for Bourbon Chicken on Macaroni and Cheesecake's blog.  I really like it at the mall, but this is even more amazing when it's homemade and fresh!  Serve on rice - yummers!

Now for my ever-famous, authentic Italian pasta salad.  I take this to almost all of my dish to pass events.  It's so good!  This is from a beautiful cookbook with tons of pictures of Italy that my parents bought when I was young called: Italy and Its Cuisine by Jillian Stewart from Mallard Press.

Here's the recipe:

Pasta Salad
Serves 6
4 cups cooked red kidney beans, drained
3 cups pasta shells or spirals, cooked
1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped
20-30 pitted black olives, sliced in half
1 tbsp. capers
4-5 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
Dressing:
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 1/2 tsp. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 1/4 tsps. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

Combine the beans, pasta, peppers, olives, capers and parsley in a large bowl.  Mix all the dressing ingredients together; add to the salad ingredients and toss together.  Mangia, Mangia!

This is a really quick lunch and makes you come running back for more:  I saw this in the April edition of Martha Stewart's Living Magazine.  Basically it's fresh Italian bread, ricotta cheese spread on it, fresh baby spinach leaves and a couple of proscuitto slices.  Enjoy!

Here are the Asian Cabbage Rolls.  I didn't have any mushrooms, so I substitued chopped carrots.  They were very tasty.

Finally, for Easter we had our 2nd Annual Easter Egg hunt with baby lambs in attendance.  Everyone invited brought something.  My contribution were these chocolate crosses as favors and an egg-shaped coconut-almond cake with cream cheese frosting.  I made some chocolate flowers for the top along with green colored coconut for the "grass" bedding.

April's Regroup

This coming month of April is my birthday month and even though I have just gotten on the ball with the menu AND grocery list, I'm giving myself the month off.  However, I won't leave you hanging.  I'd love for you to join in with me - I'm just not going to do all the work from scratch!  I am going to do the Body & Soul Challenge - Whole Living    They have all the tools for the month, etc... so let me know if you try it.  I'll let you know how it's going along the way.  (Trust me - I know it won't be easy, but that's why they call it a challenge, right?)  So, have fun and I hope for you to see less of me in the coming weeks!  (because I will have lost some weight - get it?)