Basic Whole Wheat Bread Recipe A good, easy to make, basic whole wheat bread recipe should be in every home baker’s arsenal.  Our version of a Basic Whole Wheat Bread recipe is adopted from the classic cookbook, Beard on Bread Book (who acquired his recipe from Myrtle Allen, owner of Ballymaloe House, a country-house hotel near Cork, Ireland).  We like this recipe because […]

Wood burning ovens are superb at many things including roasting meats, pizzas, breads, vegetables, etc. In fact, some of the very best food I’ve tasted has come out of our Aunt Giovanna’s olive wood fired oven in southern Italy (via her Panificio), including a wide variety of durum wheat breads. In fact, the very best breads in all of Italy […]

Our Ricotta and Sun Dried Tomato Crostini combines creamy homemade ricotta with sweet and tangy sun dried tomatoes (specifically, cherry tomatoes cured in extra virgin olive oil with salt, garlic, and herbs).   Crostini are perfect pre-dinner snacks and are wonderful accompanied by a delicate aperitif and/or glass of prosecco.  You’ll find various crostini offered at Italian cafes and bars and […]

Italian Corn Bread When my wife (then girlfriend) visited my parent’s home for her first Italian themed Thanksgiving she was bewildered by the selection of non traditional Thanksgiving day foods such as pasta, salumi, olives, various vegetables, nuts, fruits, cheeses, and pastries (I offered no explanation, but suggested she eat as much as possible so as to not offend the […]

Early on in life I was exposed to the critical Italian food philosophy of “bread is king”  That is to say, a dinner or lunch didn’t pass by where bread wasn’t present on the table (specifically, Filone – Every Day Italian Bread).   In fact, dinner couldn’t begin until bread was brought to the table; as my father and grandfather suggested […]

If you travel to any panificio or bakery in Italy (and even some State side establishments) you’re bound to run across pizzette or bite-sized little pizzas with a variety of simple toppings.  Pizzette are made with a simple tomato sauce and high quality extra virgin olive oil including the same toppings you’ll find on most pizzas.   Most Italian bakeries make […]

Friselle bread, at times referred to as freselle, frisedde, fresedde, frise, are made from durum wheat.  Friselle are baked twice and usually have a rough side and smooth side.  Friselle are found throughout all of Italy but especially popular in southern Italy (Apulia, Calabria, Campania, etc.).  Friselle have a very long shelf life and were especially popular during difficult, economic, […]

One of the most ubiquitous panini (plural for sandwich) in all of the Italy is prosciutto and cheese.  In fact, I made so many of the aforementioned panini in Italy one summer (helping Zia Teresa in her small shop) I thought all Italians survived on prosciutto (or prosciutto cotto <steam cooked Parma ham>) and cheese alone. Italian’s fascination with panini is easily understood when you begin to […]

(photo: courtesy of Dr. K.; from a clockwise position: raw onions, reduced onions, water added to reduced onions, onions prior to cooking, and finished product). When our die hard fan Dr. K. mentioned he tried a new recipe from Michael Ruhlman’s excellent new cookbook Twenty I was eager to hear which dish he attempted.  And when Dr. K. sent us photos […]

Over the last few years there’s been renewed interest on the topic of what makes people happy (or happiness studies).  “Renewed” is probably the wrong word since humans have been chasing fulfillment and happiness since we picked up traits such as language, consciousness, and the need to write things down and keep records.  The interest in happiness I’m talking about […]