Recipes or Reservations

I told Janine I wasn’t going to cook anything complicated this weekend. Maybe just something quick and easy or maybe we would go out for dinner. Either way, I figured we would just take it easy. It was one of those cold and wet February days where all you want to do is hibernate. After […]

A while back my weight was pushing maximum density.  I first noticed my pants were tight when I buttoned them. Then my prominent paunch began to resemble Buddha’s belly. It was time to drop some pounds. Portion control was the first order of business. I had to learn to push myself away from the table. […]

Marcella Hazan’s “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” has been sitting on my nightstand for almost twenty years. For me, it has been inspired reading.  I return to it over and over again as a source of inspiration and enjoyment. Forget about all of those other knock-off Authentic Italian Cuisine cookbooks that provide recipes for Chicken […]

This dish is a variation of “Chicken al Mattone” or “Chicken Under a Brick”. It is a classic Tuscan preparation where a whole chicken is split open, flattened, and grilled under a hot brick. In our household, it is called “Chicken Senza Scuse” or “Chicken Without Excuses”. The name was coined after several failed attempts […]