A Chocolate Cake with Diplomacy

December 13, 2010
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Happily for Giuliano, one of our favorite holiday desserts does not need to be baked… Called diplomatico, it is a rich and creamy chocolate mouse cake that is foolproof, hence the name. It is frosted with whipped cream, providing a perfect canvas for decorating, which is, of course, the children’s job.

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Holiday Rack of Lamb Recipe

December 6, 2010
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This elegant rack of lamb is delectable yet easy to prepare. It is an ideal recipe for when you want to impress your guests without being chained to the kitchen for hours.

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The Intersection of Culinary Cultures

December 3, 2010
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And so, although our backgrounds were religiously and in many other ways diverse, there were moments at table where they coincided.

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Sautéed Mixed Greens

November 29, 2010
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Usually prepared and served out of a small shack that may have a few plastic tables, piadina is a flat bread that is chewy but tender. Until not very long ago it used to be the everyday bread of Romagna. It is baked to order on a griddle (traditionally made of terracotta) and served with a variety of salumi, cured meats, and cheeses. One of our favorite toppings is sautéed mixed greens using a combination of mild and slightly bitter greens. It is both savory and soothing. Even without piadina, it is a side dish Giuliano often enjoys making. Made with Savoy cabbage, Swiss chard, and broccoli rabe, it appeared most recently on our Thanksgiving table.

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Happy Thanksgiving

November 25, 2010
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We thank you, our readers, for joining us on this wonderful blogging journey, and we wish you and your family a delicious and meaningful Thanksgiving.  We look forward to your comments!

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Yellow Squash with Grape Tomatoes: A great Thanksgiving side dish

November 22, 2010
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Not only do the ingredients look good together, the flavors complement each other perfectly. The simplicity of using only onions and marjoram, and patient sautéing to bring out the sweetness of the squash and grape tomatoes, makes this recipe distinctively Italian.

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Leek and Chickpea Pasta Soup

November 15, 2010
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The leeks give a soft, sweet taste to this hearty soup and the chickpeas add an earthy balance. The prosciutto lends a savory flavor and Gabriella, our oldest, picked out the pieces to eat them by themselves. It is a perfect comfort soup, it takes less than an hour to make from start to finish, and most of the dish can be made ahead of time.

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Deconstructing the language of Food: Colman Andrew’s biography of Ferran Adria

November 11, 2010
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Cooking well is like the telling use of language: Expression must be vigorous, clear, concise. There can be no unnecessary ingredient or unnecessary step. A dish may be complex, but every component, every procedure, must count. …Do not arbitrarily shuffle the vocabulary of one cuisine with that of another to make your cooking (original). There is no more use for use for such a hybrid than there was for Esperanto.

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The secret to making cardoons tender and sweet, a quick and easy fall recipe

November 8, 2010
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Of course, most children won’t like anything remotely bitter, but I’ve discovered how to eliminate that bitterness, and our kids, who love artichokes, also love cardoons.

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What makes us Human?

November 5, 2010
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Language and cooking – home cooking that is – are vehicles for consciousness, the thing that makes us human

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Radicchio Pasta: A Quick Fall Food

November 1, 2010
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One of our favorite methods is to make a pasta sauce with radicchio. When it is cooked, radicchio provides a rich deep flavor to a pasta sauce, and loses some of its bitter flavor.

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The Rialto Market in Venice Italy

October 28, 2010
Rialto Market in Venice Italy

The world has many magnificent markets, of which I have seen a good number, but it has none like Rialto. Its stalls are lined up behind an embankment along a curve of the Grand Canal, displaying their contents in the open air.

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Spaghetti with Melon on Daytime

October 26, 2010
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Giuliano makes spaghetti with melon on Daytime

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Making Penne all’Arrabbiata on Daytime

October 26, 2010
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Fall Butternut Squash Risotto and the TODAY SHOW

October 25, 2010
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“How about making a risotto when I come in fall?” I suggested to my Today show producer.  “How about making two?” she replied.  Why not?  After all, if I’m lucky, I’ll have 4 whole minutes to do them in. Once, I was supposed to do two quick pastas and the time for the segment got [...]

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Veal Scalloppine with Truffles

October 18, 2010
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The following day, Giuliano decided to top veal scaloppini with shavings of the black truffle. Lael was a bit apprehensive, not sure that the meat would carry the truffle flavor. She quickly changed her mind with the first bite. The delicate flavor of the scaloppini highlighted the earthy qualities of the black truffle. The thin overlapping truffle shavings on top of the succulent still warm meat exuded an aroma that brought all to the table immediately.

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Kiwi Gelato

October 12, 2010
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We enjoyed our kiwi dessert with friends during one of the last of the swim parties of the season. The adults were thrilled to “actually taste the fruit” and the older kids were delighted at its revitalizing flavor. A few people went back for extra bowels, next time; we will know to make more.

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Pasta e Fagioli: Comfort Soup

October 7, 2010
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In the Veneto, where the texture of the thick and creamy soup is achieved by mixing in some mashed potato, it is traditionally made with borlotti beans (also known as cranberry beans) and bits of egg pasta.

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Fried Bay Scallop Recipe

October 4, 2010
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The children fed the donkey, played archery, and biked around the neighborhood without need for supervision. I don’t think I saw a Nintendo or electronic gadget from either the kids or parents for the whole weekend. It was a perfect, relaxing, getaway.

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Gallura Restaurant in Olbia Sardinia

October 3, 2010
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How to describe the flavor of Rita’s food? Intense, yet subtle; penetrating, yet gentle; surprising, yet comforting; fragrant, aromatic, surging from deeper sources of savor than anyone else seems to have tapped.

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Easy White Rice Recipe

October 3, 2010

This is how my grandmother used to cook rice, and it’s a foolproof easy recipe. I use the same rice I use for risotto, which comes out slightly sticky but I love its starchy flavor. It’s also good with basmati rice or good plain white rice.

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Fusilli with Broccoflower

October 1, 2010
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When asked about her favorite food, our six-year-old daughter, Michela, invariably names broccoli. The broccoli she’s so fond of is the Romanesco variety. Although it’s fairly new to suburban supermarkets in the United States, Romanesco broccoli has been known in Italy since the 16th century. Grown in the region of Lazio, of which Rome is [...]

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Fusilli with Butternut Squash

October 1, 2010
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In Italy pumpkin would be used for this sauce, but I’ve found that butternut squash more closely resembles the flavor of Italian pumpkin than American pumpkin does. This sauce has been a hit with kids. I made this one day when my daughters had playmates over, and the five-to-nine year old crowd unanimously approved it!

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Penne with Peppers, Fresh Tomato and Basil

October 1, 2010
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I often make a risotto with red and yellow peppers, tomatoes, and basil whose enticing colors and aroma make it one of my family’s favorites. The fresh and fragrant combination of flavors makes this dish a great light summer meal.

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Penne with Spinach and Ricotta

October 1, 2010
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It occurred to me that it would make a very nice pasta sauce, so I added a little cream to the mixture and it was delicious — so much so that I’ve been making it just to use as a pasta sauce.

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Tagliatelle with Peas

October 1, 2010
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One of our favorite recipes comes from a restaurant in the Veneto named Il Pompiere. The chef/owner Marco makes an egg pasta dish that is infused with the luscious pea flavor, but only when the peas from Peseggia are in season.

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Italian Meatball Recipe and the results of a meat taste test

September 27, 2010
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The verdict was positive. The meat had a rich flavor and a firm texture that spoke of the place where it was raised: much like a wine, its terror.

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Ode to the Peach

September 26, 2010
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There is nothing edible from the earth, the sea, or the sky that tastes so wonderful to me as a fully ripe, soft, sweet, and yes, messy fruit

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Recipe for Grouper Salmoriglio and a Review of Andrea’s Restaurant in Sarasota

September 26, 2010
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Andrea oversees his kingdom with pride. He visits each table at least once during dinner, wanting to know the diners’ thoughts on his creations and eagerly explaining how he prepared an item. He is in his element if he discovers that a wine connoisseur is in the house. A native of Piedmont, home to some of the most prestigious wines in Italy, Andrea has a magnificent cellar and an impressive collection of Barolos. He literally leaps from the kitchen to assist patrons in choosing the wine that will flawlessly pair with their food.

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Fresh Beet Salad

September 21, 2010
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Beets are often shunned, yet they are a favorite in our home. Baked fresh beets have a rich, sweet flavor that our kids love.

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