Ah steak & shrooms, they just go hand in hand don’t they! Well as usual, everything sounds better in Italian. I think I’m just going to start speaking in Italian full time. Cosa pensi? eh he he… Bistecche ai Funghi is pronounced Biz-stay-kay I foon-gee & it’s just that, steak & shrooms.Are you ready for a different take on this classic combination? I had this dish (as with every other LOL) in Italy forevah ago & thought it was genius. You’ve got this crunchy toast (essentially a piece of Texas Toast as it’s known round here ; ) on the bottom, a luscious piece of medium steak. Because yes, I think that steak should be eaten medium with a warm pink center *drool* and then it’s topped with a blanket of scrumptious shrooms that have been basking in a tomato wine based sauce! SUBLIME! It’s full of texture, flavor & it’s oh so filling! What more can you ask for!
Did you LURVE those Chocolate Truffle Brownies that Susan of Doughmesstic did for us earlier this week? Of course you did, what’s NOT to love, They’re ooey gooey chocolately truffly squares of deliciousness! Okay I’m trying to focus, but it’s so hard thinking about Chocolate (you know I’m weak)…
It’s COLD today in my part of the world. Bone chilling COLD (well, okay, maybe not THAT cold, but cold to me) and what better way to warm up (besides downing Grappa LOL) than some Pollo alla Cacciatora {Chicken Cacciatore} It’s a perfect ONE DISH (happy dance, yeah, I HATE doing dishes so one dish meals make me happy) hearty satisfying meal.
I was recently sent a complimentary copy of The Silver Spoon for Children cookbook. This cookbook is adapted from The Silver Spoon, Italy’s best selling cookbook for over fifty years. The Silver Spoon for Children features over 40 authentic Italian favorite recipes & is broken down into “Lunches & Snacks”, “Pasta & Pizza”, “Main Courses” & “Desserts & Baking”. They’re all easy to make recipes (like 3o mins or less people) are good for you & are geared at children 8 and above. You know you want a copy, don’t you *wink wink*!
Awhile ago I was contacted byChallenge Dairy and was asked to create an Entrée for their holiday recipe showdown. To help me get inspired to create my entrée they sent me a complimentary care package which included:
Hi, I’m Paula & I can’t get enough of chicken. Nope, there I said it. I feel so much better about sharing that (not that you couldn’t have figured that out by the sheer size of the poultry file here on bell’alimento). Whew! Perhaps I should start a group on Twitter or a Facebook Fan page. I’m sure I’m not the only one (considering again how very popular my chicken dishes are here) who wouldn’t mind admitting their chicken dependency too. I’m thinking of calling it “Chicks for Chicken” kinda has a nice ring to it, no?
So you’re thinking CHICKEN again Paula? Come on! Well, yes, it IS technically another chicken recipe but hold on, just because it’s chicken doesn’t have to mean bland or boring. You should know by now (if you’ve been following me on my culinary tales) that I don’t have your run-of-the-mill chicken recipes. Oh no, it’s one I know you’re going to want to put into your poultry files! It’s one that I’m fairly sure you probably don’t have. It’s Pollo allo Spumante. Pronounced Po-low all-oh Spu-mon-tay or Fizzy Chicken as I like to call it LOL! And I’m sure it’s one you’ll be coming back to again & again.
So you like things a little Piccante? Well then this dish is perfect for you! It’s just the right amount of spiciness without being so overwhelming that it sets your mouth completely on fire. It definitely has a kick to it.
Some things in life are worth waiting for, and a good sauce is one of them (at least for me anyway). And no surprise then, this is one of those sauces! Bolognese Sauce pronounced bowl-own-ez-ay is an amazing, rich, beautiful, robust sauce.
You might not be so familiar with this type of Pasta, but you should be! Just because if nothing else it’s incredibly cute & well it goes perfect with sauces! Orecchiette is a type of pasta that is native to the Apulia region of Italy (located in the heel of the boot). The shape of this pasta looks like a small ear. No surprise that in Italian the word for ear is Orecchio. So Orecchiette translated means little ears. Orecchiette (ore-ay-key-et-ay) alle Cipolle (chi-pole-ay) is simply little ears with Onions. Yes, not so appetizing once translated into English, as always, everything sounds so much nicer in Italian! So we’re going with the Italian name. I’ve been telling you this forevah - LOL. Ah, quanto che amo L’Italiano! : )
