Recipes

Caffé Sciaccherato means “shaken coffee” and is the Italian equivalent of an iced coffee or “blended latte.” Even when it gets hot outside, Italians still have their espresso – but they simply cool it down with some ice! Like many… Read full article

Finocchio al Forno (Baked Fennel) I grew up eating fennel, raw in salads or cooked. When I moved to the States I was surprised to realize that many people did not know about fennel, had never eaten it or did… Read full article

Gallo Pinto   If you ask any Tico what the national dish of Costa Rica is, chances are they’ll mention Gallo Pinto. Pura Vida!   Ingredients:     3 cups "day old" cooked rice   2 cups black beans –… Read full article

Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage One of the dishes that Rick raved about from the ExpeditionPlus! trip from St. Petersburg to Istanbul was the stuffed cabbage that the group ate in Hungary. This is the closest we could come to replicating the… Read full article

Putting on the Pot – Pasta in Brodo Where I grew up in Italy broth was (and still is) such a tradition that at least one meal a week was built around a stock pot of broth. So this week’s… Read full article

Monica’s Ricotta Mousse If you tried last month’s homemade ricotta recipe and have been looking for something to make with your fresh ricotta recipe, you might enjoy this light and versatile dessert from Monica Malpezzi Price: This is an excellent… Read full article

Parmigiano-Reggiano Cocktail Wafers Our recipe this month comes from Nancy Radke, President of Ciao, Ltd. Nancy has the enviable job of promoting Italy’s Parmesan cheese throughout the U.S. for the cheese makers’ consortium – il Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano. Nancy… Read full article

Dulce Argentino In this recipe, dulce de leche is made using sweetened condensed milk, but it can also be made from scratch or bought already prepared. A couple popular brands of dulce de leche available in Argentina are La Serenísima… Read full article

Homemade Ricotta Cheese: So Easy a Child Could Do It  If, like me, you’ve always assumed that making your own cheese is too arcane for normal folks, you should find this recipe pleasantly surprising.  It turns out that cheese-making, like… Read full article

Ratatouille – A Provençal Specialty   On the Italian side, when I was growing up in the 50’s and early 60’s, my aunt’s family at the farm used to cook the vegetables with pieces of pancetta or fresh bacon and… Read full article

Zucchini e melanzane sott’olio’ or "eggplant and zucchini marinated in olive oil" Eggplant: Use the fatter or rounder eggplants, and cut into slices about 1 inch thick. Salt them and drain them for at least half an hour. Wash the… Read full article

Renaissance Cuisine in France and Italy Italy’s Tuscany and France’s Loire Valley don’t have much in common as far as geography or climate are concerned, but they share a special place in the history of the European Renaissance. From Florence,… Read full article