People keep asking me why, if I’m living in Sicily, I haven’t posted any Italian or Sicilian recipes on this site. Well, the answer is simple. I just don’t cook Italian food at home that often because I can go out and get really good pasta or pizza anytime I want. In fact, it’s very difficult to find restaurants in Sicily that serve anything besides Italian food. While I love the food here, we like to experiment with different things at home. Of course a lot of my recipes have been influenced by the foods that are readily available here and new cooking techniques that I have picked up over the last few years. So, even if my recipes aren’t considered to be Italian, many of them are definitely born from my culinary experiences in Sicily

But there are a few Sicilian dishes I like to make at home and I will definitely be sharing them with you over time. And hopefully the list will continue to grow! One of my favorites is Pasta con Pesto al Pistacchio or Pasta with Pistacchio Sauce. Variations of this dish can be found in most restaurants here but this recipe is definitely one of the tastiest I’ve had. The best part is that it’s really fast and simple to make!

The pistachios grown here in Sicily are prized for their brilliant green color and are exported throughout the world. The majority of the nuts come from Bronte, an area situated on the base of Mount Etna. Unlike in the United States, where pistachios are often eaten out of hand, Sicilians use pistachios in a wide variety of both sweet and savory treats. Perhaps most famous is the pistachio gelato which I believe is the best gelato flavor in the world! But you will also find several types of pistachio cakes, cookies, candies and pastries. Of the savory dishes, my favorite is this one: Continue reading →

I created this salad quite a while ago but haven’t posted it because I haven’t come up with an exact recipe. Each time I make the salad, I change the ingredients and amounts, trying to come up with the perfect combination. But it seems that it tastes just as good each time. So, I’m just going to give you a basic recipe and some general guidelines and you can either come up with your own “exact recipe” or you can keep changing it up like I’ve been doing.

I started experimenting with this salad because I was trying to replicate the mexican caesar salad from El Torito, a chain restaurant here on the west coast. I haven’t had it for years but I’ve never forgotten the cilantro dressing. Since I was in Italy when I started my experiment, I ended up using olive oil, pine nuts and parmigiano reggiano cheese. What I came up with is basically a thin cilantro pesto and it’s REALLY good on salad and meat! I think the only resemblance my recipe has to the El Torito salad is the main cilantro flavor and the tortilla strips. But it’s similar enough that I no longer crave the other one. Continue reading →

Looking at this photo, I realize that I am ready for fall. When I ate this, it was probably about 90 degrees outside but looking at it now, I can almost feel a nice chill in the air. I love to eat soup any time of the year but thick hearty soups like this are always most satisfying when the days are shorter and the air turns cool enough to wear your favorite jeans and sweaters once again.

I needed to make more soup to use up the last of my chicken stock that I had recently defosted. And once again I also had some potatoes and carrots that had been hanging around for quite some time. I had no idea what I was making until it was finished. In fact I continued making changes into the following day. But this turned out to be one of my new favorites and I will definitely make it again once this long, hot Sicilian summer has finally gone.

My friends and family might be surprised that I am posting a potato soup recipe other than our favorite Potato Leek Soup that was my Mom’s specialty. Don’t worry, the Potato Leek Soup will make it’s way onto this blog soon enough. But for now, I suggest that everyone try this one…you won’t be disappointed! Continue reading →

This was a soup that came about because I needed to use up some vegetables that had been hanging around my kitchen for a while. I had some chicken stock in the freezer so that’s what I used but using vegetable stock would make this a great vegetarian soup (leave out the cream and it becomes vegan-friendly too). I like everything a bit spicy these days so I added a couple hot Italian chilies (peperoncini). It wasn’t terribly spicy but I think the chili is what really made this soup special. I think any type of fresh chili would be fine but you could use some crushed red pepper instead. Or if you prefer no heat, add some bell pepper or leave the peppers out completely. Like most of my recipes, this soup is very flexible.

Creamy Spinach Soup

2 T. Olive Oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 hot peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 C. Chicken or Vegetable Stock
1 10 oz. box frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
1/4 C. chopped flat leaf parsely
1/2 T. fresh chopped thyme
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 C. cream

1. Saute onion, carrots and pepper in olive oil until just starting to brown.
2. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for one minute.
3. Add broth and potatoes, bring to a boil. Turn heat down then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
4. Add spinach, parsley and thyme; cook for another five minutes.
5. Puree in blender or food processor (in batches if necessary) or put through a food mill.
6. Return to pot. Add salt and pepper to taste then stir in cream and cook, stirring, over low heat until heated through.

This tastes even better the next day!

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My favorite meatball sandwiches come from DiCiccos restaurant in my hometown. I don’t order them anywhere else because I’m always disappointed. I’ve never tried making them at home either. I just wait until I go home to visit and make sure to hit DiCiccos at least once while I’m there. But it’s been a very long time since I’ve been able to enjoy my favorite meatball sandwich and I decided that it’s time to take the matter into my own hands.

I think the key to a good meatball sandwich is the sauce. You’d think it would be the meatballs since that’s the main component of the sandwich but I think if you have a good sauce, decent bread, and right type of cheese, you can get away with a mediocre meatball. Not that I planned to make any mediocre meatballs!

I remembered a pizza sauce recipe that I had tried from one of my favorite cookbooks Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. The sauce was so simple but it was nice and tangy…perfect for the sandwich I had in mind. Yes, maybe it’s a little ironic that I found the perfect sauce for my MEATball sandwich in a VEGETARIAN cookbook but I really think that you could replace the meat on this sandwich with grilled eggplant or some grilled portabellos and you’d have something just as good!

For the bread, I just purchased the best looking sandwich rolls at the grocery store and for the cheese, I picked up some packaged pre-sliced mozzarella cheese. This is a sandwich that doesn’t need anything fancy. If I had the time, I would have bought bread from a bakery or made my own but the pre-sliced mozzarella was exactly what I wanted. Continue reading →

I was in a rush this morning and pretty much forgot all about breakfast. I’m not much of a breakfast eater during the week but I usually force myself to at least eat some cereal and yogurt by 10 a.m. But when I came home today at lunchtime, I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything at all. I wanted something quick and filling but not too heavy and the first thing that came to mind was eggs.

It’s when I’m hungry that I get creative in the kitchen. I don’t want to spend the time searching through recipes and my growling stomach doesn’t give me time to “overthink” what I’m throwing together, it’s more intuitive. So today, this omelette recipe just kind of happened. Luckily, It turned out really, really good and I’ll definitely be making it again!

Cheddar, Chive and Sour Cream Omelette

2 eggs
1 T. sour cream
1 T. water
1/2 T. fresh snipped chives
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 T. butter
1/4 C. grated extra sharp cheddar

1. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream, and water with a fork until well blended. Stir in chives, a pinch of salt some some fresh ground pepper.
2. Heat a nonstick skilled (8 or 10 inches) over medium heat. Add butter and swirl around. Pour egg mixture into pan and cook until the top is almost set. Gently loosen omelet and carefully flip it over in the pan. Sprinkle cheddar on one half and gently fold the omelet over the cheese. Serve immediately.

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I decided to get out and grill something before I missed the deadline for Carnival of the Grill…a blogging event hosted by Men in Aprons. I usually don’t need an excuse to fire up the grill but lately I’ve chosen to stay in my air conditioned kitchen and have kept my distance from fire-producing objects. Luckily, the mercury seems to be dropping and it’s actually pleasant outside in the evenings again.

So last night, in honor of my return to the grill, I opted for something fancy. And by fancy I don’t mean complicated, I mean expensive! But it’s nice to splurge once in a while and the thick beef tenderloin steaks looked so good that I couldn’t resist. Although I love a good porterhouse and rib eyes are always a good bet, there’s nothing like biting into a perfectly grilled tenderloin steak.

Usually I don’t do much to these steaks…a little olive oil, some salt and pepper and they taste amazing. But occasionally I wrap them in bacon and last night I took it a step further and crowned my effort with a slice of spicy, smoky compound butter. I was inspired to make up this butter a few days ago after visiting 101 Cookbooks. I love my smoked paprika from The Spice House and am always looking for new ways to use it. It tastes amazing in this butter and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner! By the way, if you like to make your own barbeque rubs and you have never tried smoked paprika…go buy some now!!

Yes, a steak wrapped in bacon and covered in butter might sound like a heart attack waiting to happen but beef tenderloin is very lean and we’re only talking about one slice of bacon and maybe a teaspoon of butter. It’s not something I do often but adding a dab of compound butter to grilled meat takes it to a whole new level. Try some sage butter on a grilled pork chop if you don’t believe me!

On to the recipe… Continue reading →

I came up with this one pot meal yesterday. It was one of those “throw everything you can find in a pot and see what happens”-type meals. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. This worked. And it’s not only tasty, it’s really really healthy! The combination of beans and brown rice gives you a perfect protein and tons of fiber. Add a bunch of veggies on top of that and you’ve got yourself one big pot of nutrition!

Of course I couldn’t let myself be that healthy. So, I added a side of homemade corn chips that were perfect for scooping up the beans and rice. There are a few nice things about making your own chips. For one thing, you can make a small batch. That way you can satisfy your craving for something salty and greasy without devouring an entire bag of Doritos in one sitting (not that I’ve ever done anything like that). But another reason to fry them up at home is that you know exactly what you’re getting. You choose the tortillas, you choose the oil and you choose the seasonings. No weird ingredients and no weird preservatives–unless, of course, that’s what you really want. I made my chips in one of my favorite kitchen appliances, the Fry-Daddy. What? You don’t have an electric deep-fryer? Well, get one. I don’t fry stuff much but when I do, the electric deep fryer makes it so easy! The one I have is cheap, small, and easy to clean. Really, just go get one. If you do, I’ll give you my recipe for fried artichoke hearts Continue reading →