When I made these corn fritters I knew they would be delicious but when I sunk my teeth into the first one - and I ate 12 of them! - I literally moaned from the pleasure of the flavor, wonderful texture and the sheer everything-ness about these fritters. Corn is not a traditional summer vegetable...
Appetizers
Eggplant Parmesan
Eggplant Parmesan is one of my favorite dishes, and one I make a lot when we have our summer garden.You can roast or grill the eggplant, but it doesn't yield the same flavor and texture satisfaction that frying does.Everyone has a different idea on how to prepare eggplant for frying: peel or not, salt & drain first,...
Delicious fried zucchini flowers
There's nothing more delicious than fried zucchini flowers. They’re a delicious appetizer and snack you can make all summer long, and each time you can vary the filling for your fried zucchini flowers. The 4 things you HAVE to get right when you make fried zucchini flowers with your garden produce. Don’t pick all the...
Taralli, delicious snack food from the Puglia region
Taralli are one of the most iconic foods from the Puglia region. Eat them any time of day as a delicious snack food (stuzzichini) or served as an antipasto with aperitivi. They are made either plain or with a variety of flavors like fennel seeds, hot chili pepper (peperoncino), or even sweet. The flavorings are...
Bread and Tomato Appetizer
Bread and Tomato is just about the easiest and most delicious of all appetizers. If truth be told we have it just about every night while we prepare dinner, and often at lunchtime too. The key to preparing a delicious Bread and Tomato appetizer is simple: high quality ingredients! It sounds obvious, doesn't it? Just...
Deep-fried Artichokes
Carciofi alla Giudia, or deep-fried Roman globe artichokes, are one of winter's most delicious side dishes. As the artichoke fries it opens up like a flower and yields a gorgeous golden-brown artichoke. The leaves are crispy and delicious and the inside flesh is tender and wonderful. Deep-fried artichokes are easy to prepare; the most important...
Oven Roasted Fresh Figs, Gorgonzola and Walnuts
It's a chilly beginning of January and I just devoured bruschetta with scrumptious oven roasted figs, Gorgonzola and walnuts. It might strike you as odd that I have figs in January but my passion for figs drove me to devise a wonderful way to have figs year-round. In mid-summer, and then again in September, when...
Supplì al Telefono: Roman-style Stuffed Rice Balls
Roman-style Stuffed Rice Balls, known in Rome as Supplì al Telefono are a classic of Roman cuisine...the roman version of street food. These luscious rice balls are stuffed with meat and cheese. As you bite into the supplì the melted cheese stretches out and resembles a telephone cord; hence the name "al telefono". Originally the meat used to...
Tomato Ricotta Tart
It's that delightful time of the year when our vegetable garden is exploding and yielding scrumptious produce in spades. We always plant lots of varieties of tomatoes; it's the true staple in Italian cuisine and we won't settle for anything but the best in the tomato department. Our favorite snack is bread, tomato and olive...
Baked Fresh Anchovies with Capers & Parmesan Cheese
It's time to toss away all your preconceived notions about anchovies and give them a second chance. The anchovy in your Caesar salad or on top of a pizza..packed in oil and salt...is not the same thing as a fresh anchovy. A fresh anchovy is a tiny, delicately flavored oily white fish. And there's more....
Marinated anchovies with spaccasassi, Le Marche
We spend time in Portonovo along the Conero Riviera every year, usually for brief weekend trips of a few days. Some of our closest friends live there and an additional benefit is the spectacular beauty of the area: the lush mountains of the Monte Conero spill dramatically into the Adriatic Sea. The beach...
Red Snapper Ceviche
Yesterday we spent the day fishing in Belize. Cagey, a local fisherman, took us out for the day on his small boat and we hit all his top fishing spots. I'd really hoped to catch a tuna and we nearly did. We had a barracuda on the line that broke away and even managed to bend...