Category Archives: Italian

Spring Pea and Asparagus Risotto

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Danguole| 4 Comments

Is “stirring” on your list of hobbies?

… No?  Same here.  I’m not THAT much of a looney tune.

But here’s a sampling of what I do like doing:

-Make not-fizzy mimosas with Moscato I have left over from making sabayon.  I don’t like sweet wine, but I’m not throwing it out, okay?  It’s wine just like any other wine.  Does it not have feelings?  Does. It. Not. Bleed?!?!

-Pick out nail polish based solely on the names.  Current favorites: “Bam-blue-zled” and “Follow me on glitter.”

-Listen to the Supreme Court.  No, really!  At least today and yesterday.

-Eat risotto.  This is the one that’s relevant.  And to make risotto, we must stir.  Stir valiantly, my friends.  You will be rewarded.

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Posted in Italian, Main courses, Spring

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Chicken Piccata and Roasted Lemon-Garlic Broccolini

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Danguole| 1 Comment

This food blogging thing is a strange beast, I’m finding.  It interesects with real life…  Sometimes.  For example, check out what happened this weekend:

Rachel and I rolled up our sleeves, fueled up on Jameson and pumped out Irish cream sandwich cookies, “caramelassies,” soda bread, green shamrock dip, corned beef with bourbon-orange glaze, colcannon and the cutest roasted carrots you’ve ever seen.  Also pictured: guest contributions of steamed rice buns and Lunchables (always welcome).

So, yeah–I didn’t take photos for you, or make meticulous notes on recipes.  You don’t want to see those things anymore, right?  We’re already in Easter mode!  Things move fast.

I think you may want to see this, though.  It isn’t nearly as date-specific as all that beautiful Irish-themed food.  Chicken piccata is welcome whenever.  It’s weeknight-friendly, even if you insist on serving it with a bottle of crisp, grassy white wine (I did).  Oh, and–delicious.  Let’s not forget that.

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Posted in Fall, Healthy (?), Italian, Main courses, Meat, Winter

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Marcella Hazan’s Minestrone alla Romagnola

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Danguole| 3 Comments

If you’re not hopelessly nerdy like me, you probably won’t like this post and I’m totally sorry.  There is a fantastic (not bragging, because it’s not mine!) recipe for minestrone soup if you scroll down.

So, it goes like this: When I was juuust starting to cook as a thing–a hobby–I picked up Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking and started to read it as if it were a novel.  It’s a serious book for serious Italian cuisine, and soon enough, I came across this: “The least acceptable method of preparing garlic is squeezing it through a press.”

Uh oh.  I totally had (and used) a garlic press.

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Posted in Healthy (?), Italian, Main courses, Soup, Vegetarian, weekend

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