Filed under Italian …

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder

I recently got an email from Tre Piani chef/owner Jim Weaver with his recipe for a 6-hour Berkshire Pork Roast. It sounded wonderful, so I post it below. If the Tuscan roast baby pig I enjoyed there at Thanksgiving is any indication, this, too will be delicious. Continue reading →

Le Virtù and Abruzzo Pantry

Le Virtù and Abruzzo Pantry

My maternal grandfather, Frank DeGiovanni, was from Abruzzo. specifically, Guardia Vomano in Teramo, which is near L’Aquila, site of the devastating 2009 earthquake. Life there was always tough, so young Frank found his way to the United States, where he met and married my grandmother (from Lombardy, far north). They built a good life in … Continue reading →

Pronto!

Pronto!

A new book from Canal House Cooking is always cause for celebration. Volume 8 of their series, Pronto!, was recently released, and provides a winter’s worth of easy to execute recipes for you and your family. Or even (like me), just yourself. I swear, if I were having Thanksgiving dinner on my own (I’ve been … Continue reading →

The Glorious Vegetables of Italy

The Glorious Vegetables of Italy

Plan on coming to Dorothea’s House on Sunday November 3 at 5:00 pm for a program titled From Artichokes to Zucchini – Cooking with Italy’s Glorious Vegetables. (Programs at Dorothea’s House are followed by informal get-togethers where one can chat with old and new friends, and taste dishes and offerings brought by participants.) Domenica Marchetti, who grew … Continue reading →

Nearly Vegan Lasagna

Nearly Vegan Lasagna

For the last couple of months, I’ve been “informally” trying to eat vegan during the day, based on Mark Bittman’s VB6 book. It’s a struggle, especially since my convenient breakfast of choice is yogurt. And, wouldn’t you know, just as I started trying non-dairy yogurts, the Whole Soy company moved their plant, which has resulted in … Continue reading →

Mugolio Pine Syrup

Mugolio Pine Syrup

I had ordered some Mugolio pine syrup a while back, having first read about it on the excellent  CiaoChow Linda blog.  I finally broke it out the other evening, thinking of cool pine forests and, of course, the Häagen-Dazs vanilla bean gelato I had in my freezer. It was one of those “why did I wait so … Continue reading →

Pane di Pasqua

Pane di Pasqua

I can’t take credit for this work of art. It was made by my colleague Marybeth, who decided to try her hand for the first time at making this traditional Italian (and many other cultures’) Easter Bread. I think she was thinking of the larger versions, but after viewing a photo and recipe for smaller, individual, … Continue reading →

Dinner at Enzo’s

Dinner at Enzo’s

Delicious dinner at Enzo’s Piccolo Cucina in Lawrenceville tonight. Here’s the Italian style roast duck. My companion’s rabbit with pappardelle was also really good. A blood orange and fennel salad was as pretty as it was delicious, and my cream of mushroom soup was also excellent.

Holiday Gallery

Holiday Gallery

It was great to do some cooking over the holidays!  Here’s a photo roundup of some of the things I enjoyed. Note that I did not make the Panforte myself, that was from Bon Appétit, ditto Baked Alaska from Trader Joe’s (too cute to pass up).