Stuffed artichokes!!!

Artichokes are one of my favorite vegetables...they are so versatile and could be used as a side dish, in salads, and even as a main course like this one. They definately need lots of prepping and lots of hand strength as when raw they tend to be extremely tough but I could assure you it is so worth the struggle!!!! My mother has been making stuffed artichokes since I could remember, what I don't remember was her struggle cleaning them out because the end result was heaven. The aroma of lots parsley, pine nuts, beef bouillon, bread crumbs, & garlic cooking in lots of delicious extra virgin olive is simply..let's say tantalizingly ambrosial!!!!

Coco for Coconut Oil!!

So recently I began experimenting with this extraordinary super food virgen coconut oil..IMPRESSED I am as a little goes a long way and the flavor it adds to rice, vegetables, chicken, and even pancakes not to say the least is exquisite!!! I don't use it with my Italian dishes but it blends perfectly with my latin or asian inspired meals like the one I cooked the other night with chicken, red peppers, yellow peppers, onions, peas, and a grating of ginger... all served with fluffy coconut rice. It has a sweet nutty flavor that enhances a variety of foods... simply just worth the exploration of finding ways to tantalize your palate!!

Chicken basics....

Why do I call this chicken basics????
Chicken, onions, celery, & carrots simply marry harmoniously!!!! In addition to this they are must have basics for your fridge...to this delight I added paprika, bay leaf, marjoram, orange zest, lemon, oregano, and rosemary than braised it slowly in champagne.  Boil up some penne and toss with parmigiano reggiano and you got yourself a weeknight comfort food dinner!!!

Pierna Asada

This is a new twist for me as most of my post are traditional foods that I grew up with. This pork leg however is a traditional dish found in Cuban homes.... why is it going to be a tradition in my home you ask??? Well I adopted a delicious Cuban little baby last year and will always do my best to introduce his culture in our home making it our tradition too!!! I am not going to lie I have searched a ton of recipes and this was not my first attempt but it was certainly my first success because what is important about making the pierna asada is getting the delicious crispy and golden!!! I found this recipe online by an old little lady showing her work on you tube.. pekiskitchen. All she used was salt!!!!

NEW YEARS 2012

For the last 7 years my husband and I have a tradition of celebrating New Years by ourselves with brand new pajamas. It's quite exciting as we make a fancy dinner that includes indulgence of our palatte! We serve Prosecco, Champagne, Caviar, smoked salmon, etc..... What I would like to really talk about is the pasta I have been doing for the last 7 years. My local market is Fresh Market and every year they sell little pastas's that are called Sachetti (little bags). They look like small little money bag filled with mozzarella, asiago, ricotta, a parmeggiano cheeses. I serve it with extreme richness of black truffles, chantarelles mushrooms and creme fraiches, and a generous amounts of parmeggiano reggiano. When I say its heaven in your mouth I literally mean it. The chanterelles melt in your mouth along with the black truffles!!! After this we never get to the next course which is a protein of some sort, this year I made filet mignon but I made it for New years day dinner as again we never get the the next course after eating richness of the Sachetti pasta =)

Christmas in my home

I grew in in a home with many cultures, Panamanian, Italian, and Chinese. For Christmas, however, we tend to lean toward the Italian traditions yet without forgetting where the other dominant side is from, Panama.

For Christmas we serve a variety of seafood and it is a feast of many courses that last all night. Sometimes depending how many we are we do not get to finish what is on the menu. We do not serve everything all at once as we cook it as we eat it. Some of the traditions are bacalao salad (salted dried cod fish), insalata rinforze, which is a cauliflower, pickled red peppers, carrots and anchovies salad. Another salad is an octopus salad that we make. Traditionally, the typical Italian Christmas involves 7 fishes. Depending on the household you will find a little more or a little less. What you will usually find is spaghetti with clams!!! In Naples, Italy you will always find eels on the menu too. Not easy to find in south Florida I found some beautiful Bronzino fish. My menu this year did involve 7 pieces of seafood yet we only got to 5 of them but ate the rest within the next few days =) Two more things that you would always find in my mothers house along with the seafood is a beautiful ham and delicious Panamanian tamales!!! Although we make the ham Christmas Eve and show it, our household tradition is to eat it the next day with Crackers, cafe con leche (coffee w/ milk), and some panettone! I love Christmas and our Christmas feast but most of all I take pride in doing Christmas the way my mother taught me.

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because I from first hand experience have seen this holiday how it brings together everyone from every culture. I love how everyone seems to adapt to this wonderful day of thanks. This is also a holiday I kind of like keep the food traditional, as I cannot seem to think of celebrating Thanksgiving without a turkey. In my home, we always have a delicious turkey, mashed potatoes made with butter, evaporated milk, and cream cheese. A vegetable of some sort should also be included, this year I created a savory tart with duck fat Brussels sprouts. The stuffing is one of those things that I like to play around with and be a little creative, this year I did a cornbread stuffing with French chestnuts, cherries, andouille sausage, and lots sage! AHHH and the cranberry sauce! So easy to make and I have heard so many different recipes for this tart delight I even heard of someone making it with rum! I made my cranberry sauce with blood orange juice, cranberries, and sugar, nothing fancy just refreshing. Of course let’s not forget desserts! Every year I usually make a panna cotta with figs that have been macerating in vin santo which is an Italian dessert wine, this year however, I made a bourbon candied orange pecan pie that sounded quite intriguing as I was glancing through the Epicurious website. I also made a vanilla ice cream and an orange and bourbon glaze to marry them both together! AMAZING!!!!!

Last, but not least, I couldn’t forget to make a Thanksgiving cocktail! I created a delicious apple cider martini! Cozy and refreshing…

The holidays in my home have always been special! My mother always made a huge event of all of them and the linens and décor were always spectacular. This year I got a beautiful orange red tablecloth and found some old orange linen napkins and I went to the crafts store to get some raffia ribbons in red, orange and brown along with some glittery orange leaves. The colors in the table looked so vibrant and so warm that it felt like it was a cool fall day in my dining room in Miami!!! =) The point is, dress up your Holidays and find inspiration where you can! This Thanksgiving was just my husband and I but my mother taught to always make it special even if it just two of you! 

Rib-Eye & Gorgonzola Mashed Potatoes!

Every morning I sit on my balcony to drink my coffee and I get so much inspiration from my beautiful rosemary  plant. I absolutely love rosemary but when I think of cooking with it I can't help but to feel it belongs with something hearty! Nothing pleases my husband more than a good steak not just any but a rib-eye steak!! the simplicity in the marinade is to just slather olive oil, salt, garlic, and some beautiful rosemary sprigs. His second favorite things is Gorgonzola cheese in which you can put in a salad but why waste beautiful juices from the rib-eye in a salad when you can make a rich creamy mashed red potatoes with a Gorgonzola cheese overload!!! A must of course to finish this enticing plate of flavor is a beautiful robust bottle of Bordeaux! Cheers!!!

Cornished Hens with Duck Fat Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts

These little hens are as tasty as thanksgiving turkey yet cooks in just about an hour!! I love making cornished hens and there are a variety of ways to cook them!!! For me however what marries quite perfectly is rosemary, garlic, and some citrus. For this recipe I stuffed the cornished hen with key limes that I found at my local market.  The juices that flow from them while being cooked with white wine, carrots, and celery has to be served with delicious duck fat potatoes!!! My inspiration when making cornished hens is almost like a mini thanksgiving dinner for two!!! Along with the little hens and duck fat potatoes i served brussels sprouts cooked with pancetta (Italian bacon) and balsamic vinegar!!!

Pasta Al Forno

Pasta Al Forno, this is my little brother Giuseppe's favorite food!!! When I make this dish I kind break it up in two steps because to make it you must use the Ragu sauce that has been cooking for hours!!! Because of this I usually make a lot of Ragu than I save a good amount of the sauce to make pasta al forno the next day. Why do I break it up you ask?? Because to make this dish not only do you need the ragu sauce but then you must make very small meatballs, boil some eggs, hand shred good smoked mozzarella cheese, Parmeggiano Regiano, oh and a little thing we do in our house and not so much in Naples, Italy mix some delicious left over ricotta from the day before. Now very important when boiling up the pasta you must leave it a little more raw than al dente because when it is cooking in the oven it will get softer and no one likes soft pasta NO ONE!!!!
OK so lets proceed...in this delicious oven baked delight the best way to make is to get in there and get your hands dirty!!!! Mix all the ingredients and do it with love!!!! Then simply bake it for like 20-30 minutes and Voila!!!

Polpette al Sugo di Pomodoro

Is it a cliche to say Spaghetti and meatballs is one of my favorite comfort foods?? I love traveling with my husband and I absolutely love trying different foods from other countries I will admit however, when I come back from vacation from a different country other than what is in my blood I crave one of my cultures comfort foods; a beautiful plate of spaghetti with delicious tomato sauce that has small to medium sized meatballs cooking in it (oh yes with lots of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano)! 30 minutes is all you need to make this delicious yet hearty dinner. For the meatballs , good plain bread crumbs and a very nice amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano makes them absolutely succulent! When I cook this I cook the meatballs first in olive oil and garlic until they get golden and the juices get flowing; then I add a nice can of San Marzano tomatoes and let it cook with all the juices. Comfort at anytime!  

Liguini with Clams!!!!

What can I say about Linguini with Clams??? LOVE IT!!!!!!  We do this for Christmas every year and of course anytime we are in the mood for it =) This dish must be carefully watched when cooking the clams. I use a generous amount of aromatic extra virgin olive oil, smashed garlic, some well picked clams, parsley and an ENTIRE bottle of delicious Pinot Grigio. The trick to cooking clams is that as soon as they open while cooking you must take it out so as to not over cook. Overcooked clams /seafood is by far a huge sin!!! I literally take a clam out one by one when they open hence the reason why it must be carefully watched. As this is definitely one of my favorites I certainly cannot compare it to the abundance of beautiful tiny clams the sea in Naples has. They are tiny yet so powerful and pungent that most of the time no salt is needed to make it because the ocean is in each of the shells! I have shown two linguini with clams one is with cherry tomatoes and the other without. Both are just as good just different ways to make it.

Pasta Fagioli!

Pasta Fagioli!!! I will admit when you are on a budget but want to eat something comforting and yet impressive pasta fagioli with mussels is you answer! Made with beautiful cannelini beans that have been soaked over night ( or even canned ones) and a variation of mixed pasta, garlic, onions, a few little crushed cherry tomatoes for color, and mussels. This dish does not necessarily always have to have mussels but it adds intense flavor and you'll never want to eat it with out them again. My mother makes this with mussels and leaves them on the shell which is also very good but....my Zia Maria in Italy showed me an extra step that does basically knock your socks off!!!! She takes each mussel out after they have opened and once she has them all in a bowl without the shells once the pasta fagioli is ready to serve she takes a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil in a small pan and adds the mussels for a few second just until you here them sizzle!! Pour the pasta fagioli in the pasta bowl add the mussels with the delicious aromatic olive oil and some parsley and you have dish to remember!

Refreshing Salmon!

When I'm in the mood for salmon I can't think of a better match then pairing it with some fresh beautiful mint leaves from my herb garden on my balcony =) The sauce I created for salmon just made sense to me, in a food processor mix yogurt, garlic, dijon mustard, salt, lemon, and a generous bunch of mint leaves. Serving this sauce cold with seared or poached salmon is exactly what I crave during hot summer days!
P.S. I like to serve this in a deep dish with a spoon so that every single bite of the salmon is swimming in this mint yogurt delight! But of course thats just me  ;)

RAGU!!

AHHH RAGU!!!!! What can I say about this classic sauce!! There are so many ways to make this and with so many different meats, my favorite is short ribs or ox tail.  This is the kind of sauce that you want to start early and on very low heat all day! To make ragu you want to make sure you use strained tomatoes! Some people use onions and garlic others just use garlic and some use red wine or even white wine, again many different family recipes for ragu. The way I make it is with garlic, onions, and red wine.
To serve this comforting sauce my favorite pasta is paccheri pasta or rigatoni as shown. However, somewhere in the middle hidden there is a wonderful scoop of delicious ricotta cheese!!! Heaven!!!!!!!!!


P.S. When making ragu don't forget to make eggplant parmeggiana with this delicious sauce!!!

Roasted Peppers!!!

I can't even express how delicious & inviting my home smells when I put bunch of beautiful vibrant colored peppers in the oven to roast! I do this on Sundays when I make ragu, my husbands favorite. They're roasted until the skin is black so I could peel them. The natural oil and juices from the peppers are so incredibly sweet that with only a few ingredients (olive oil, garlic, olives, capers, & a hint of salt) you have tantalizing side dish that could make headlines on its own!

Spicy Shrimp and Cherry Tomatoes!

 I absolutely love this dish and every ingredient must be respected and have their center of attention when cooking! The garlic, the tomatoes, the shrimp, the peperoncino flakes, the white wine, and the parsley! I also cannot express the importance of investing in an aromatic beautiful bottle of extra virgin olive oil!

Limoncello!!!!

Limoncello, South of Italy's treasured drink!! Made from the most beautiful lemons I have ever seen. I love making limoncello, its a project we do as a family during holidays or even when we just run out. I am always looking for beautiful bottles to put it in as they are great gift for your friends. Made with 100% grain alcohol and the aromatic lemon peels (very important to invest in good quality lemons as unfortunately we do not have those famous lemons from the Gulf of Naples)! An absolute citrus delight after dinner!

Bolognese!!! Bolognese!!!

Ground sirloin, carrots, celery, garlic, onions, nutmeg, tomatoes and you have the base ingredients of comfort delight!!! Remember to add lots of Parmeggiano-Reggiano to this classic sauce originating from beautiful Bologna!!!

Linguini with Mussels???

Is there a rule that linguini must be married to clams??? Here, I have twist on the classic traditional dish linguini with clams.....instead why not with mussels? Quite exquisite I might add as well as appetizing to the eye!!!