The only regret I have about our last trip to Italy was not being able to enjoy a Porchetta Panino. Sadly, it was not from lack of trying. Porchetta is Rome’s ubiquitous street food. It consists of a boneless whole pig that is seasoned with herbs and roasted on split. Slices of meat are carved to […]
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Grilled Summer Vegetables: A Seasonal Party Staple
Timing has always been our biggest challenge when guests come over for dinner. Janine says it’s because we make things too complicated. Instead of setting out a couple of appetizers and letting everyone dig in, we try to provide a steady flow of offerings until the main courses are ready. When this approach works, it […]
How To: Roast Peppers
Ingredients/Equipment – Peppers 1 Tbs of cooking oil per pepper Kitchen Tongs Broiler pan (if applicable) This method can be used for almost any type of pepper (Bell, Poblano, Jalapeno, etc). Although the heat source may vary, the basic technique for roasting peppers remains relatively the same. Char the outer skin. Place inside a covered container […]
Marcella Hazan’s Roast Chicken With Lemons: Masterful Simplicity
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 […]
Pasta with Chick Pea Sauce: One Pot Recipe With a Little Twist
I originally made this dish for Janine back when we first started dating. It was one of those nights where we arrived home late and we were both dead tired. Neither one of us wanted a dining experience. We just wanted fuel. After taking a quick inventory around the around the kitchen, I decided to […]
Grilled Chicken With Lemon and Rosemary: No Excuses and No Bricks
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 […]
How To: Split and Flatten a Chicken for Grilling
Remove the Chicken from the package along with any Giblets that may have been tucked inside the cavity (Either discard giblets or save them for another use). Rinse the bird thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. Begin by removing the wish bone (Sorry Kids, I know it’s fun to make a wish, but removing […]
Pasta Primavera: Quick, Easy Dinner after Long, Hard Commute Home
Our daily commute to work is one hour and forty-five minutes each way. On a good day, we usually leave the house at 6:00 am and return home at 7:45 pm that evening. Of course this assumes there are no traffic or mass transit delays (and there always are…). As much as we love to […]
White Bean, Lemon, and Rosemary Crostini
We first prepared this dish as a last-minute addition to a holiday appetizer platter. Our company was on their way when we realized the first course consisted of mostly cured meats and cheeses. The few sparse fruits and vegetables were more decorative than substantive. A frantic scavenger hunt around the kitchen yielded limited ingredients. The clock […]
Summer Peach Cake
We live in Monmouth County NJ. We love it… but let’s face it. NJ is the punch line of many jokes. However, there are great things that come from NJ, especially in terms of food. In the summer, one of the gifts from the Garden State are the local peaches. (Sweet corn and tomatoes are up there too!) Following […]
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