Food

The old adage is true, and truer still when brown butter is involved. Known as burro nocciola, after the hazelnuts it so resembles, this kitchen miracle will imbue your food with sweet, nutty flavor.   Burro nocciola is butter that …

Let me set the scene. You are leaving a cocktail party with a group of friends. You don’t want the evening to end quite yet. Everyone is famished.  In America, you typically head off to a pizza place, a diner …

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast, 3/4 cup (180 ml) milk, 6 Tablespoons light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 eggs plus 1 yolk, 8 Tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature, 1/3 cup chopped candied orange peel, 1/3 cup currents sprinkled with 1 tsp almond extract, 1/3 cup …

Feeling the winter blues? Ready to put some pizazz back in your palate? Brightly hued blood oranges will certainly do the trick. Aah, the winter beiges. Trips to the local farm market this time of year tend to be rather …

If you are looking for something to start your Easter meal, look no further than this elegant soup made from the humble celery root.   About the size of a softball, cloaked in a gnarled, hairy brown overcoat, and sporting …

The traditional Italian Easter cake called “Cuzzupa“ is made in Calabria, made into a braided nest with colored sprinkles on top. Its consistency reminds a cake type of dough. Here the recipe Ingredients 6 cups of flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, Pinch …

When I learned that the legendary Castello Banfi of Montalcino was making a presentation in San Diego and had chosen San Diego’s Solare Ristorante Italiano for a select dinner to pair its lineup of magnificent wines, I circled the date in day-glow red. …

You’re Italian and you know there’s no better tomato sauce than the one made with your garden tomatoes! The smell and the flavour of garden tomatoes is one of the best memories I have of my childhood! I remember those …

I looked at him quizzically, not really accepting if this concept of “just wine” would go over for an event of the size he was hoping for.  That was two years ago, and I had just met David Frachetti for the first time …

Since a very young age, I can remember eating Crescia at Easter time. It’s one of my earliest food memories. The aroma of this cheese bread with a good dose of black pepper would fill my Aunt Mary’s house.   …