A few weeks back I was at the butcher shop and picked up some various pork parts, 2 pounds of cheeks being part of the haul. They were really inexpensive at $2.49 per pound and I had intended on curing them but ended up putting the pork cheeks in the freezer to save for anotherContinue reading “Blue Moon Braised Pork Cheeks Basquaise”
Category Archives: Recipes
Pollo alla Milanese Vestito (Breaded Chicken Cutlets)
Sorry for more Italian but I’ve been on a roll lately and couldn’t resist making Pollo alla Milanese this week. Cheryl’s been swamped at work and this is one of her favorites. It’s also her birthday week so I thought this would be a nice weeknight dinner to prepare for her. That and pollo allaContinue reading “Pollo alla Milanese Vestito (Breaded Chicken Cutlets)”
Cavatelli with Duck Sausage and Brussels Sprouts
I’ve been trying out a Christmas present this week; Classico e Moderno, a new Italian food cookbook from Michael White. It’s a great cookbook which is split into two parts, half contains classic Italian preparations and the other half contains his modern takes on them. For Sunday dinner this week I handed the book toContinue reading “Cavatelli with Duck Sausage and Brussels Sprouts”
Lucky Lentil Soup with Garlic Sausage for New Year’s
Happy New Year! Around the world you can find people eating lots of different foods in order to bring good luck and fortune. In Italy the good luck dish is lentils and cotechino (a sausage). No cotechino laying around la mia casa, but I did have some lentils and some of my garlic sausage soContinue reading “Lucky Lentil Soup with Garlic Sausage for New Year’s”
Panettone Bread Pudding: Using the Custard Ratio
One last post for 2013. Here’s a dessert which has become kind of a tradition for our Christmas Eve dinner: panettone bread pudding. This Italian Christmas loaf makes a superb bread pudding since it’s already sweetened and is chock full of raisins and other fruit. It’s usually the last bit of holiday baking I doContinue reading “Panettone Bread Pudding: Using the Custard Ratio”
A Twist on Fruit Cake: Pan del Marinaio (Sailor’s bread)
Fruit cakes are synonymous with Christmas and ever since my mom sent me Carol Field’s ‘The Italian Baker’ I’ve had my eye on the ‘festive’ breads section. There are a number of recipes for holiday sweet breads in it, including…fruit breads. While thumbing through it the other day I came across a fruit filled breadContinue reading “A Twist on Fruit Cake: Pan del Marinaio (Sailor’s bread)”
Christmas Cookie: Lemon Squares
There is not much time left to get your Christmas baking in. I’ve been churning out my regulars this week but I wanted to add a new one to the rotation: lemon squares. They are pretty popular any time of the year but I think they’re great around Christmas since they are a bit lighterContinue reading “Christmas Cookie: Lemon Squares”
Filetto: Fennel Pollen Cured Pork Tenderloin (Mini-Lonza)
When we’ve traveled in Spain (and France and Italy for that matter) I’ve always been awestruck by the different kinds of cured meats I see in the markets. There’s no grinding and stuffing, in fact the process for curing whole muscles is relatively simple and they are very easy ‘starter’ projects for the budding homeContinue reading “Filetto: Fennel Pollen Cured Pork Tenderloin (Mini-Lonza)”
Happy Thanksgiving! One Last Bite, Homemade Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! Pumpkin pie has always been my favorite Thanksgiving dessert, ever since I was a little kid. As I was making this the other day I was reminded how quickly pumpkin pie can be put together. The dough takes about 2 minutes to make and 20 to chill. In that amount of time youContinue reading “Happy Thanksgiving! One Last Bite, Homemade Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving”
Guancialini – Homemade Cured Pork Cheeks
Things have slowed down a bit work-wise and as you may have noticed I’ve been doing some adventurous stuff lately. One experiment I was eager to try was curing some pork cheeks into guanciale. It’s been on my ‘to-do’ list but I always kept forgetting to ask about pork cheeks when in a butcher shop. Continue reading “Guancialini – Homemade Cured Pork Cheeks”
The Roaming GastroGnome 