This cake marks the sixth in my series of Proms cakes. These are cakes inspired by pieces of music which performed at the BBC Proms, which is the largest classical music festival in the world. A lot of composers take inspiration from nature, life, myth and paintings and these cakes are designed to embody some aspect of a piece that makes it stand out.

The chicken foot cake is based on a movement from Pictures at an Exhibition, by Mussorgsky – an orchestral suite inspired by a series of paintings; the cake is specifically inspired by a movement based on a painting of a character from Russian folklore: Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga was a witch who lived in a hut on chicken legs (paintings disagree whether the hut was on one or two legs but that is beside the point). I did think after making the cake that maybe I…

After last year’s nauseating brain cake (check out how to make it here), and the spider cake that followed it (not for the arachnophobic among you), I thought I would tone down the horror of this year’s Halloween cake – not least because I still have to travel in public with it. So, of course, I made a cake with lots of broken bones oozing red goo stuck around it. It does not provoke the same level of visceral disgust as its predecessors but I definitely would not view it as plain – there is still an element of gore which is impossible to ignore.

I have always classed myself as pretty squeamish. I cannot stand watching people get hurt, surgery, pimple popping etc. – it makes me feel faintly sick and go remarkably white (so I am told). I can just about deal with seeing things after the…

I’ve been going through a huge white pizza faze. If I’m making or having pizza I’ve said farewell to marinara for the time being. It’s amazing to me how underrated white pizza is. As someone who tolerates tomatoes and not love them it just changes everything. I don’t know why I haven’t made this switch sooner!

During the cooler months I always have certain things constantly on hand like heavy cream, butter, bread dough in the freezer and a over abundance of apples for some reason. Also excess of flour and sugar because this is not the time to run out of any of that. With that being said as soon as I had the craving for pizza I knew I was set.

This is pizza is the absolute best! Its the perfect chilly night pizza especially if you’ve already have dough on hand. I was actually craving clam chowder…

Garden Salmon Loaf with Creamy Cucumber Sauce

• non-stick cooking spray
• 1 (14.75 oz.) or 4 (2.6 oz.) canned, boneless, skinless pink salmon
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery 
• 1/2 cup chopped green or red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (white, yellow or purple to add a flash of color!)
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs OR
• 1/2 cup whole-grain, uncooked quick oats  (I use 1/4 c. oats and 1/4 c. gluten free bread crumbs)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Creamy Cucumber Sauce

• 1 cup fat-free, plain yogurt
• 1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp. chopped, fresh dillweed OR
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried dillweed
• 2 tsp. fresh minced onion

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8×4 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Drain salmon, flake with a fork.
  3. Add salmon, celery, bell pepper, chopped onion, bread crumbs, milk,eggs, pepper and parsley,  mix…

LENTIL CHILI

1 tbs. oil
1 tbs. water
2 cloves garlic
2 med. onions, chopped
1 med. green pepper, chopped
3 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
2 c. water
1 1/2 c. dried lentils (I use red lentils)
1 tsp. salt seasoning
2 1/2-3 tsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. sugar (I use stevia/monk fruit)
6 green onions, finely chopped
Toppings–grated cheese, sour cream, green onions, avocado as you like.

Sometimes I add a can of kidney beans.

Heat oil and water, add garlic, onions, and pepper.  Satue 8 to 10 minutes  Add rest of ingredients except for green onions, and garnishes.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until lentils are tender.  Add water if needed.  Spoon into bowls with onions and toppings.

I am reposting a lot of stuff I wrote about long ago …  but it’s all seasonal and if you like to eat Roman food, I am sure you will appreciate this very ‘Roman’ salad !

https://myhomefoodthatsamore.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/little-points-big-salad-puntarelle/

Little points, big salad – Puntarelle

So, I have been trying to eat healthier these past few weeks. Fish and beans are a great meal as it is a perfect mixture of protein and vitamins! In this recipe, I have used white pacific fish, which I was trying for the first time, but there are tastier fishes that can be used, like tilapia and salmon. Everything is pan fried on one single pan, this making the cooking and clean up relatively easy. The flavors and spices used are minimal too which enables you to enjoy the flavors more I believe on some occasions. Capers helps to bring a salty and aromatic flavor to the dish and the red chili flakes add some heat to the beans.

{Recipe}
White Pacific fish with sautéed green beans

INGREDIENTS:
Fresh green beans-200gms
White Pacific fish fillets-3
Salt
Pepper
Capers-1tbsp
Minced garlic-1tbsp
Red chili flakes – 1tbsp
Red wine vinegar-1tbsp
Peanut…

Ingredients

• 1 box Betty Crocker™ fudge molten lava brownie mix
• Water, oil and egg called for on brownie box
• 1 cup Reese’s peanut butter cups miniatures, unwrapped and halved
• 2 tablespoons Hershey’s hot fudge topping

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 8-inch square pan with nonstick foil, leaving enough hanging over sides of pan for easy removal.

Make brownie batter as directed on box. Spread 1 cup of the
brownie batter in bottom of pan; stir ½ cup of the peanut butter cup halves
into remaining brownie batter, and set aside. Squeeze fudge pouch about 10
seconds. Cut ¼-inch tip from corner of pouch. Squeeze fudge evenly over brownie
batter in pan; cover with remaining batter.

Bake 35 to 38 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches
from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool 30 minutes; top with remaining
peanut butter cup halves. In small microwavable…

Ingredients

• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• ⅓ cup butter, cubed
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1-½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking cocoa
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Confectioners’ sugar

Directions

In a microwave, melt 1 cup chocolate chips, unsweetened chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, beat sugar and eggs 2 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into chocolate mixture. Stir in remaining chocolate chips. Refrigerate, covered, until firm enough to handle, at least 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°. With lightly floured hands, shape dough into 1-in. balls; place 2 in. apart on ungreased cookie sheet.Bake until lightly puffed and set, 10-12 minutes. Cool on pans 3 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool…

Ingredients

• 40 gingersnap cookies
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1-1/4 cups sliced almonds, divided
• 2 tablespoons chopped candied orange zest
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 60 maraschino cherries, stems removed

Directions

Place gingersnaps, cream cheese, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup almonds, orange zest and extract in a food processor; process until combined. Refrigerate until firm enough to form into balls. Pat cherries dry with paper towels. Wrap each cherry with a rounded tablespoonful of cream cheese mixture; shape into a ball. Freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.

Chop remaining sliced almonds; set aside. In a double boiler, melt remaining chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Dip cherry balls in chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Sprinkle balls with almonds. Place on waxed paper. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup eggnog
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Dash salt
• GLAZE:
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3 to 5 teaspoons eggnog
• 1 teaspoon dark rum, optional

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Beat butter and sugar until blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in eggnog and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt; gradually beat into butter mixture (dough will be sticky).

2. Divide dough in half. On a greased baking sheet, shape each portion into a 12×3-in. rectangle. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 16-19 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 300°. Remove biscotti from pans to wire racks; cool 10 minutes.

3. Place rectangles on a cutting board. Using a serrated…

My daughter has decided to eat less/no meat for the time being, and I’m now realizing that a lot of our autumn/winter comfort foods are very meat-forward. Fortunately, my mom has been a vegetarian (pescatarian if you’re being picky) for longer than I’ve been alive, and she has some really great recipes. This is based on her sweet potato chili, but I kind of went off on a tangent, because I just really love these cumin roasted sweet potatoes, okay?

Serves 4-6

4 TB peanut oil (divided)
2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 – 1 tsp berbere spice blend
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 28 oz. can diced or crushed tomatoes, depending on your texture preference
1 1/2 cups vegetable…

As this blog has clearly illustrated, I love baking with apples – today, I decided to bake some apples!

I do like sweets, but I don’t have a huge sweet tooth, so I often like to mix sweet and tangy. For this recipe, I decided to use some apple cider vinegar (if you want more sweet, and no tang – just substitute the apple cider vinegar with apple juice or apple cider).

I’m home, mostly (I think a teenager holed up, upstairs, doesn’t really count as being home when me. I barely see her!), alone, so I decided to just bake 2 apples. If you choose to do more, just double, triple, whatever the ‘stuffing’ ingredients.

I started by coring two apples (by the way, I just got this apple corer and I LOVE it!).

Then I worked on the ‘filling’ or ‘stuffing’. I kept it pretty simple – I…

I’ve already mentioned my love for Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess— quite apart from the doll reference, Sara was a character I could relate to (at least in some respects), always telling stories and imagining things.

There are several references to food in the book– rich, savory soups, hot muffins, sandwiches, cakes– but the most prominent takes place when Sara is out on a cold winter day. Tired, cold, and extremely hungry, she daydreams about being able to buy some hot buns, when suddenly she happens upon a lost four-penny piece!

And then, if you will believe me, she looked straight at the shop directly facing her. And it was a baker’s shop, and a cheerful, stout, motherly woman with rosy cheeks was putting into the window a tray of delicious newly baked hot buns, fresh from the oven—large, plump, shiny buns, with currants in them.

As a child…

By using a creamy peanut better in the batter and Reeses peanut butter chips along with the chocolate chunks, these cookies have great flavor and do not have the typical dryness of some peanut butter cookies. I recommend a creamy peanut butter that is not the natural variety, as it blends better in the batter and yields a much better texture. I love to use large milk chocolate baking chips –ghiradelli are my favorite. Pour yourself a large class of milk and enjoy a cookie break!

Yield 20 -24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour (I love Bob’s Red Mill Pastry flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (I love Jif creamy)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk chocolate baking…

This week’s It’s Chili, Chowder, or Stew Saturday is a recipe for Jalapeño Sweet Potato and Chicken Chowder. To make this delicious Chowder you’ll need Sweet Potatoes, Onion, Vegetable Broth, Chicken, Whole Kernel Corn, Jalapeños, Heavy Cream, Green Onions, and Seasonings. Warm up these cool Fall nights with this week’s recipe! It’s from the CooksRecipes website where you’ll find an endless selection of delicious recipes, so check it out today1 Enjoy and Make 2019 a Healthy One! https://www.cooksrecipes.com/index.html

Jalapeño Sweet Potato and Chicken Chowder

Recipe Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
1 small onion, 1/4-inch diced
Up to 1 quart vegetable broth, chicken stock or water
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 1/2 cups whole kernel corn (fresh or frozen)
2 teaspoons jalapeños, minced (or more to taste)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
Chopped green onions for garnish

Cooking Directions:
1 – Bake…

It was during Sister Madly’s Utopian Days that Midori- a recent transplant from Japan*- explained how, just before moving to the States, her Grandmother sat her down and lovingly outlined the ritual for something she called ‘jagaimo.’

* A culture of wise and beautiful people who recognize that life is much too short to be eating bread crust on a daily basis.
Also, they have pet otters.

Now Sister Madly hadn’t heard of this ‘jagaimo,’ but if she were to speculate, it is the custom of cutting the crust off all things sandwich- seriously, the Western World needs to adopt this tradition immediately. Many a school luncheon was ruined by her Mother neglecting to remove the crusts from her peanut butter and banana sandwiches. But fret not: having since learned how to properly handle a knife, Sister Madly is now able to remove the crusts on her own like…

INGREDIENTS

• 6-7 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 (1 lb) package bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup green onions, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. In a 9×13-inch baking dish, mix together the potatoes, cheddar cheese, garlic salt, bacon, and green onions. Add mayonnaise and stir until everything is well coated.
3. Bake until potatoes are tender and top is golden brown, about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Ingredients

Crunchy Chocolate Layers

• (Makes 2 layers so, ingredients need divided in half before you start)
• 1 12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 11 oz package butterscotch chips
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 cups Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies

Peanut Marshmallow Nutty Caramel Nougat Layer

• ¼cupunsalted butter
• 1cupgranulated sugar
• 1/4cupheavy cream
• 7ozcontainer marshmallow cream
• ¼cupcreamy peanut butter
• 1½cupssaltedroasted peanuts, chopped or whole
• 2cupssoft caramels

Directions

• Crunchy Chocolate Bottom Layer
• Prepare a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Combine half of the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter and microwave in microwavable bowl on high heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chips are fully melted and the mixture in smooth.
• Stir in Cocoa Krispies until fully coated then pour into prepared baking dish and spread using a spatula or spoon.
• Refrigerate about 15 minutes until firm.

• Peanut Marshmallow Nutty Caramel Nougat Layer
• In a small saucepan, combine…

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 pork tenderloin (1 ¼ – 1 ½ lbs)
• 1 can french onion soup (10.5 ounce)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups egg noodles, uncooked
• ¾ cup water
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

directions

1. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Roll the pork tenderloin in the flour and cook in the skillet until browned on all sides.
2. Place the browned pork tenderloin in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add soup, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and onion powder. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until tender. Turn the slow cooker to high in the last 30 minutes of cooking.
3. Stir water and cornstarch to create smooth paste. Remove pork from slow cooker and plate. Whisk cornstarch mixture into slow cooker. Cover and let cook and…

It’s a common misconception that you need a whole lot of stuff to make something utterly scrumptious. All you really need is imagination and a few basic ingredients whose flavours you can combine to turn a dish into something wonderful.

Last night marked the return of my favourite kind of dish; the one-pan wonder. This time I was in the mood for a dark red, juicy, tangy zing to my chicken, and what better way to get just that than adding sun-dried tomatoes.

I even took it a step further and used a sun-dried tomato cook-in sauce to amp up the flavour. What a brilliant dish it turned out to be. So easy, so more-ish and so-so filling.

Who’s hungry? Vincent, our housemate and I. But this recipe will fill 4 bellies.

Ingredients

• 800 g chicken pieces (4 thighs and 4 drumsticks)
• 800 g pumpkin cubes
• 400 g green beans

Whenever anyone asks me what my go-to dish is, the answer is always a one-pan wonder.

One-pan wonders are pretty effortless, they result in less dishes to clean after cooking, and they’re incredibly tasty due to all the ingredients infusing their individual flavours into one scrumptious dish.

I always do my one-pan wonders in my big electric frying pan, but if you’ve got a large, deep saucepan, you’re good to go!

Who’s hungry? Vincent and I, and our housemate Roan, too. However this recipe will easily feed a hungry family of 4.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs
• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 1 onion, diced
• 200 g diced bacon
• 4 potatoes, quartered
• 150 g sliced mushrooms
• 4 tomatoes, quartered
• 5 baby marrows, sliced

These nachos really hit the spot! Serve them for your next tailgate or make them and eat them all by yourself like I may or may not have done 🙂 I made a huge batch of pulled pork and just had to do some nachos!! Give these a try!

Ingredients
– tortilla chips
– pulled pork (recipe here)
– shredded cheese
– tomatoes, diced
– onion, diced
– homemade guacamole (recipe here)
– sour cream
– cholula hot sauce

Spread a layer of chips on a sheet pan, load on cheese and shredded pork. Place under a broiler for 2-3 minutes. Repeat this process one more time. You want a good even layer of meat and cheese! Top with your favorite toppings!

ENJOY!

Contains:  Soy, legumes.  Is:  Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, quick and easy.  

This what happened to the other half of my tofu from Friday’s recipe.

Served! It was very good and should be on rotation around here.

I had the Swiss chard from a farmer’s market hanging around in my fridge, begging to be used.  I’m not one to not oblige, especially since Swiss chard is a really good and tasty leafy green (or yellow… or red… or white… if we look at some of their stems!)

Let’s face it, tofu can be kind of bland.  It’s up to us to season and spice it up properly.  And fried SOFT tofu just basically can break apart, although I like it in age dashi tofu, which is very gently fried.  (But it won’t brown up and caramelize nicely, as it has too much water.)  And without the sauce, that rendition…

Oven Baked Pork Chops with Potatoes

I can attest to the deliciousness of this recipe; it’s going into our rotation. Family approved.

-from RECIPETIN EATS

Oven Baked Pork Chops with Potatoes

Prep

10mins

Cook

30mins

Total

40mins

Recipe video below. Made with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, these pork chops are slathered in a country-style sauce then baked until sticky and golden. Add potatoes or any other vegetable that will bake in around the same time! This recipe is fabulous as it is but lends itself to many variations so add your own touch! MARINATING IS OPTIONAL. This is also great with CHICKEN.

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Ingredients

Rub

• 1tspWorcestershire Sauce
• 2tbspketchup(Note 1)
• 1tbspsoy sauce(Note 2)
• 2tbspbrown sugar(or white)
• 1tbspolive oil(or vegetable or canola oil)
• 1clovegarlic,

Country-Style Pork Ribs in the oven

I looked at a recipe for Pork Smoking Country-Style Ribs to scan basics, like internal temperature, low & slow, timing…but, I wasn’t smoking so I used the oven at a little higher temperature, 300°. My plan was to season (I used MCCORMICK® GRILL MATES® BROWN SUGAR BOURBON SEASONING) and S&P) , cover good with foil and leave in oven for 2 hours. Then uncover, turn temperature down to 200°, add favorite bbq sauce and bake another hour. BUT…they were fall apart tender when I went to add bbq sauce so instead…for that step I turned broiler on, put them under broiler until desired doneness on sauce. They were not only delicious, they were moist and only required a fork! Our sauce this time was Sweet Baby Ray’s with vidalia onion. I served them with fried potatoes and onions…

This was after I finished all the pizzas I made. Yeah, the photo is a little messy, but I will be making these again in the near future and I’ll recapture some better shots.

This, much like anything you can think of (asides from candy bars), can be made on any model of the Blackstone Griddle. It’s easy, simple and delicious. I love pizza any way I can get it. While my all-time favorite is an ultra-cheesy, Chicago deep dish pizza, thin’n’crispy is always a hit, too.

Recipe
— A pack of flour tortillas (8-10 inch ones)
— Pizza sauce (I use Classico pizza sauce, but you can use whatever you want; if using marinara sauce, I recommend adding a pinch of sugar to it for a little sweetness.)
— Cheese (I used shredded mozzarella, but you can use virtually any blend of cheese)
— Toppings (much like cheese…

Blackstone Griddle-seared ribeye topped with caramelized mushrooms & onions, bacon-fried corn and toast.

I had two ribeyes weighing in at a combined weight of 2.10 lbs. that I purchased from Food Lion; they were quite thick, so cooking times vary.

Recipe
For the ribeyes:
— I used the Blackstone Steakhouse seasoning (I had a little sample pack from the ‘swag bag’ I received at one of the Griddle More Tour events) to rub both sides of the ribeyes after allowing it to sit out. You can buy it at virtually any Wal-Mart in the outdoor/grilling section along the shelves. Sure, cuts of steak like ribeyes may not need anything more than salt and pepper, but I was excited about giving the seasoning a try!

— I microwaved about half a stick of butter prior to cooking and allowed it to sit out on the counter to soften up a…

The Killer Cook Chow Khan Pan-Asian seasoned chicken’n’steak stir fry in my carbon steel wok.

This could have been easily made on my Blackstone griddle, but I had an injury from an accident with electric hedge trimmers that required stitches from two deep lacerations and a fractured thumb that I’m still recovering from. After hearing a ton of hype about carbon steel pans, I found a 14″ carbon steel wok for a good price ($26 with a 20% off coupon) and decided to give it a trial run with some chicken’n’steak stir fry.

Recipe
— I had a 1-lb. sirloin steak and a 8oz. ribeye in the freezer that I defrosted and cut up into small, bite size pieces
— I found a couple a pack of chicken tenders at my local Food Lion grocery store that I also cut up into bite size pieces. About six tenders were used.

As I probably already said, I love to eat soups for dinner, and this is definitely great 🙂 it’s thicker than a normal minestrone (someone say that you should be able to eat it even in a flat dish), because of the bread and because of the beans purée, but it’s very tasty especially one day later (which is when it really deserves its name) and it’s a very healthy recipe, rich of nutrients, because a lot of fresh seasonal vegetables are used. It’s one of the countless vegan/vegetarian recipes of the regional Italian cuisine, recipes that people are eating since always without the need of any label, they are simply considered normal “very good recipes” of the everyday life 🙂

It’s a famous traditional recipe from Tuscany region, and its name means “re-boiled” (ri-bollita in Italian), because it was made in big amount and reboiled in the…

Today 5th of December I prepared one of the best “spaghettoni al pomodoro” I ever did…how is this possible, almost in winter? The answer is simple: with amazing products, like these “pomodorini del piennolo del Vesuvio” (or other similar great artisanal products), simply picked up when perfectly ripe, squeezed with hands and carefully put in a jar no salt, no other flavors, no preservatives (of course!), just perfect wonderful tomatoes  there is any other “fresh” tomato now that can come close to these, no way, that’s why I never buy tomatoes in winter (of course if I would use the same tomatoes in August I would obtain the very best, but I don’t live in Naples or Sicily 😀 but with such a well made product I think the difference is really not big at all. I have tomatoes in the garden here, they are good, but because…

Here it is a delicious recipe of the Sicilian cuisine, with its typical flavors. It’s a recipe whose flavors will literally explode in your mouth 🙂

The pistachio is typical of the island (famous the one from the village of Bronte), the sun dried tomatoes too, and also the “ricotta infornata“, a particular ricotta which cooked in the oven until brown, it has a very different flavor than the normal ricotta. In alternative also ricotta salata is good.

INGREDIENTS (2 people):

• 180 g spaghetti
• 100 g pistachio pesto (60% unsalted pistachio, 40% extra virgin olive oil, salt)
• about 20 pieces of sun-dried cherry tomatoes
• half clove of garlic
• freshly grated ricotta infornata (or ricotta salata)

1. First of all prepare the pesto with a blender. You can use green pistachio or toasted, depending on your taste, but they have to be unsalted.
2. Start boiling the pasta, and meanwhile take…

Salads. Let’s be honest, most of us avoid them at all costs. It’s hard to imagine a salad as comfort food, and without bacon, can feel like a throw away at the dinner table. Most salads tend to have the same old ingredients of Romaine lettuce (let’s not even get started on iceberg lettuce), tomatoes and maybe some onions.

Yet, despite this, salads may be one of the most underrated dishes on our tables. With the right ingredients and proper treatment of those ingredients, the boring salad may just become the star of the show, or at least a great supporting role for an entree.

One overlooked trick to salads is roasting the vegetables ahead of time. Here, we are sharing two salads that are great for any occasion. First up, an arugula and fennel salad that can complement great seafood. We served this with our Lobster Boil to great…

Although not authentic, we all can’t be expected to have a tandoor blazing in our kitchens at all times, this is the next best thing.

There’s one semi-weird thing with this recipe. It uses brown sugar. The original recipe I had iterated on called for honey, which I did not have, so I just did a swap with brown sugar. It turned out BEAUTIFULLY, so I went with it. Feel free to swap either, but if you want to replicate my recipe, use the brown sugar!

What you need:

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• oil or butter for cooking

1. In a bowl or glass measuring jug, add water, sugar and yeast. Leave until foamy or about 5 minutes.
2. In a large…