Pear and Gorgonzola burgers

It seems the All American Burger went Italian for a day!

Burgher is the ultimate american comfort meal, and well, leave it to an Italian to mess with it....but don't worry, it's all for the better!
As far as the beef, I chose 80/20.....you need the 20% of fat to keep the meat juicy, but if you want to use a leaner meat, buffalo is what I recommend, it's very flavorful.
I only seasoned the meat with salt and pepper and 1 tbs of worsheshire sauce. I formed the meat into small 2.5" diameter burgher patties to fit on the mini brioche buns I purchased at the store.
I cooked for about 5 minutes on each side keeping them medium rare and about 2 minutes away from the meat being done I placed 1 bartlett pear sliced onto the grill to cook. Keep the pear on the grill until the marks are clear then remove it, yo don't wanna over-cook it or it will fall apart.
I dressed the brioche with a light coat of mayo and ketchup, then place a nice leaf of escarole lettuce and a ring of thinly slice onion.  I place the pear and my burger on top, coated with a generous amount of gorgonzola cheese, the heat from the burger will melt it to perfection!
Enjoy it!!!

ah the summer heat...

yes yes, summer is a time of fun and of course the sun...but I have to say that after a while one could get a bit tired of all the summer fun at the beach and the heat. Don't get me wrong, there is a certain appeal to being able to wear a short sleeve t-shirt in december knowing that the rest of your family is stuck getting up extra early to defrost their windshield ...
But come on here we are in October...and what do I get instead of the mood setting fog, well a heat wave! It's been well over the expected 75 degrees of perfect southern Californian weather for far too long! 97 degrees, ahhh! I need the fall to come! i'm craving stews accompanied by rich burgundy wines, I want to slow roast a festive turkey and churn polenta.
but...TOO HOT TO COOK!!!!
So here are a" No - Cooking needed" recipe that could help relieving the summer heat.

Pear and Arugula salad :

Ingredients:

2 pears - diced and drizzled in Lemon juice.

1 5 oz Organic Baby arugula package

4 oz of crumbled Feta cheese or Blue Cheese according to your preferance

1good handful of maple pecans

a good drizzle of sweet italian dressing.

Sweet Italian Dressing:

2 parts Red wine vinegar to 1 part agave, a drizzle of extra vermin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

Well there aren't really any directions to this beside plate and enjoy!!!!!!! such a simple dish that is sure to cool you down a bit during those hot summer days.

Simply Asian - Ginger broth

This dish is perfect as a warm appetizer, a delicious and light introduction to a hearty asian meal....and can definitely stand on its own as a main course by simply adding tofu, meat or shrimp.

Ingredients:

2 cups of chicken broth ( you may substitute with vegetable broth)
2 cups of water
4 medium size cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 inches of fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp powdered garlic
1/4 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced
1/2 carrot, thinly grated
6 leaves of baby spinach, thinly sliced
1 fresh cayenne pepper, sliced

Directions:

 In a pot combine the broth, the water and the ginger. Cook on MD heat for about 5 minutes. Add the powdered garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Pour in  the mushrooms and the leek and cook for another 5 minutes until boiling.  Pour some onto a serving bowl and add the carrots and the spinach. Serve and enjoy.

The lonely Radish....

I have always look at the radish as the most overlooked jewel in the garden. No body seems to talk about this little red peppery deliciousness! You don't often see it appear of menus at restaurants , you don't even see it mentioned in most recipes, and the few that do mention the use of a radish is generally as a garnish.
Well This is now as it was growing up one of my favorite veggies. On Sunday Mornings Nonno Giovanni, used to come by with a fresh rabbit my mom would braise and a bag filled with his fresh garden pickings.  The bright colored red pearls bought my eyes as a young child, my dad sliced them thinly in a bowl alongside some nice crispy cucumbers, a drizzle of oil, salt and red wine vinegar...and I was a happy camper. I still crave radish salads quite often. This made me think that there must be more one can do with a radish...so much more!
so here are a few dishes inspired by the peppery radish.

Wilted watercress and buttery Radishes:

Ingredients:

2 bunches of red radishes- quartered or cut smaller.

1 generous tablespoon of unsalted butter

1 large garlic clove smashed

2 bunches of organic watercress

Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

Cooking Instructions:

melt the butter in a hot skillet. Add the radishes and  sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the smashed garlic clove and stir. Allow the garlic to become very fragrant but not brown, about 3 to the minutes. Then add the watercress, fresh ground pepper and salt to taste, stir until evenly wilted, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately, and as always, enjoy it. 

Radish salad with fresh mint and organic valencia oranges:

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of radishes, thinly sliced

1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 organic valencia orange - peeled and sliced

a nice handful of fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped

fresh ground pepper and salt

2 tbs of lemon juice

1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

Cooking instructions:

Peel the orange and cut each orange section out of the pith. In a bowl combine the radishes, the onion and the orange sections then sprinkle them with the mint leaves. Season with the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Apple soup anyone?

This is simply the perfect side to my Grilled cheese sandwich with bacon, sharp cheddar,apple and honey mustard. Light but full of flavor, sweet and savory all together.

Ingredients :
1 celery root - diced
1 large parsnip - diced
1/2 yellow onion - diced
2 red apples - peeled and diced
1 tbs light brown sugar
1 shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey
1 to 2 tbsp creme fraiche
chopped bacon to taste.
salt and pepper to taste.


Directions:
Cover the bottom of a dutch oven pot with extra virgin olive oil and turn the heat on medium. Add the diced celery root and parsnips. cook on medium for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the onions and cook covered for another 5 to 10 minutes. Deglaze the pot with a shot of Jameson and add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and 1 table spoon of light brown sugar. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Add the 2 diced apples and cook for an additional 15 minutes, until everything is nice and soft. Using a hand held mixer, puree until evenly smooth. Add the creme fraiche and pour into serving dishes. Sprinkle in the desired amount of bacon and garnish with some Italian parsley or cilantro.

the memorial day blues

Everyone always looks forward to the long memorial day weekend. Usually 4 days of sun filled barbecues , family and friends at a park or at the beach if you are lucky enough to live in SoCal.
but let's be hones, as much as one can love a good ol' bbq chicken plate, or a nice juice perfectly seasoned steak....but the time Memorial day Monday actually comes....aren't you tired of even the sound of the word bbq? ......this is why this year, after a friday,Saturday and sunday night filled with grilled meats we decided to put a spin on the Monday night grilling tradition. we left behind the heavy and expansive meat and opted for another American Classic: The grilled cheese sandwich.
I consider this sandwich a perfect blank canvas you can work with to create so many different and easy dinners, the Spanish have their Tapas parties...well, we now have a grilled cheese party full of bite size cheesy surprises.

- Sweet Surprise grilled cheese -

Make sure your grill is nice and hot. Prepare your bread, I chose sourdough for this, by spreading a thin layer of butter on the both the outer sides of the slices, this helps giving the bread that nice crispy golden brown appearance. Then spread a nice layer of fig jelly on one slice and place your preferred amount of brie on the other slice. Grilled the sandwich on both sides until the cheese is melted and the bread has nice grilling marks and a nice golden tone.

-Italian date night grilled cheese -

Butter the outer layers of the bread slices. Place 2 slices of havaarti cheese on one slice of bread followed by two thin slices of Prosciutto di Parma, enough thinly cut date slices to cover the whole sandwich and top it all with a couple of fresh basil leaves,cut into small pieces and a couple more cheese slices. grill the sandwich on both sides until golden brown and the cheese is fully melted.

- Salty Bites grilled cheese -

In a small bowl combine, 10 small diced kalamata olives, 10 large green olives and a tbs of  capers and 1 tsp of pimientos pieces. Add 1 to 2 tbs of extra verging olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, minced, and a little orange zest. Add a pinch of pepper and a sprinkle of chile flakes. mix well.

Butter the outside of your bread slices, spread a generous amount of the olive salad you just prepared then covered it with two thin slices of french Fontina cheese. Add a few leaves of Arugula and place two more slices of fontina cheese on top. Cover and grilled until both sides are golden brown and the cheese is fully melted.

- Grilled Cheese  Alla Romana - 

Butter the outer sides of the bread.Flip them over and place a couple of thin slices of mozzarella fresca on the bread, two or three ( depending on the size of the bread you chose) thin slices of heirloom tomato, three filets of anchovies, some chopped fresh italian parsley and top it again with a little extra mozzarella fresca. Close the sandwich up and grill until the cheese is melted and the bread in golden brown. 

- Midwestern grilled cheese - 

Lightly butter the outer sides of the bread. Spread a small amount of Honey mustard on one of the inner sides of bread. Place two slices of sharp cheddar over the mustard and top them with a few pieces of bacon cooked to the desired crispness. Add a couple more slices of cheese and top it off with a few thinly slices of green apple.Coat the inner side of the other bread slice with some softened butter and grill the sandwich until all the cheese is melted and both sides of bread are golden brown.

easy baking - Lemon Bars -

Delicious and refreshing, a great summer dessert and in the winter a great company to a nice hot cup of tea. And as I recently discovered easy to bake as well.
Ingredients : 
FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
2 cups of all purpose flower
1/4 cup of light brown sugar
1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar , more to garnish
1/4 teaspoon of salt
FOR THE FILLING:
4 large eggs + 2 egg yolks
2 cups of granulated sugar
1/3 cup of all purpose flour sifted
1 cup of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of lemon zest


To make the crust, pre heat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack positioned in the middle. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with vegetable oil and line with aluminum foil making sure it overhangs on all sides by a couple of inches to help pulling the bars out at the end. Grease the foil as well.
In a food processor, pulse the butter,flour, confectioner's sugar, brown sugar and salt for about 2 minutes. Pour the mixture onto the greased foil and press it down evenly. Make sure the mixture also goes up the sides of the pan about an inch  and also be careful not to create any cracks.
bake until golden, about 25 minutes.
In the meantime start preparing the filling. 
Whisk together the eggs and the extra yolks,the sugar and the flour until evenly combined.Add the zest
( I used buddah hand because it gives more zest) and the juice.
When the crust is done, remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 300. Pour the filling over the warm baked crust and bake for 35 minutes.

Allow the bars to cool in the pan and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours allowing them to become firm. Take out of the pan lifting the foil, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar or powdered sugar, cut into serving size pieces and enjoy:)

polpette napolitane

Now this is a blast from the past! I remember first having those in a school trip to the Amalfi coast in 1993. Crispy on the outside, perfectly moist in the inside,rich and not greasy at all. Pretty much, the perfect Meatball! ....and still simple in the making.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground pork

1 lb ground beef

1 bunch of flat leave Italian Parsley minced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 french baguette - just the white inner part

1/2 cup of whole milk

3 large eggs

1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 ball of fresh mozzarella - cut into small cubes

unseasoned bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste.

TO MAKE THE MEATBALLS: 

Place the white inner part of the baguette cut into small pieces, in the milk.  Place a generous amount of bread crumbs onto a large dish.While the bread is absorbing the milk preheat the oven to 350 and start preparing the meat.

In a large bowl combine the ground pork with the ground beef, salt and pepper, garlic and the parsley. Mix by hand until even, then add the eggs and the Parmesan.Mix again. Add the bread after squeezing the milk out of it and mix again until all the ingredients are nicely combined. Form into balls by hand and  add one cube of fresh mozzarella in the center then roll into bread crumbs.  Once all the meatballs are formed heat up 2 to 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet. Once the oil is sizzling hot, place the meatballs in the pan and brown on both sides. Once they are golden brown remove them from the skillet and place them into a baking dish. Bake them in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes.

I wanted my meatballs with a simple tomato sauce. For this I heated up 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet, added 1 crushed garlic clove and some black pepper. After a couple of minutes, when the garlic became fragrant but not brown, I added 4 fresh ripe tomatoes crushed and I added about 1/4 cup of white wine and 2 tbs of unsalted butter. I cooked this on medium heat until it reduced to half the size and the creamy thick consistency of a sauce was reached. I served it over the meatballs and thought it perfectly complimented the creaminess of the meatballs without taking away the simplicity of Italian cuisine. 

Usually I make the meatballs large enough to stand out on a dish but for our Christmas party  I prepared smaller bite size version of them and served them with lollipop sticks to turn this dinner dish into a perfect Mess -Free Appetizer. In this case I didn't use a tomato base sauce but I served them with a side of Parsley and fresh garlic gremolata dip. However you chose to serve them I am sure you will enjoy them quite a bit.