Be Back Soon!

My family from Italy will be in town for a couple of weeks and I really want to focus on them for a while!
I therefore will not have any classes while they are here, nor will I probably update the blog during this time, but please feel free to contact me for any information about CUCINAMORE at damo267@yahoo.it
See you all on here soon!

A Kid in the Kitchen (and this time it wasn’t my own)

When his mom one day asked me if I was willing to have a special class with her 7-year-old son and that this was going to be her birthday gift to him, I must confess that I was not so confident it was going to be a good idea.
On one side, I was thrilled: I always loved working with children and I have had Nicholas in my way when I cook since he learnt how to climb on a chair to reach the counter, so I guess that gives me some experience on the matter.
On the other hand though, I was telling myself “What if the poor child would rather have a new Transformer for his birthday instead and he is going to be bored and disappointed?". Then I decided to trust his mom when she told me that he really loves being in the kitchen and his dream (for now) is to be a chef one day, so I accepted the challenge and simply did my best to make it as enjoyable as possible for us both.



It turned out to be one of the best experiences I have had. I loved it! I hope he had fun too.

This is what I did with Daniel: I picked a very simple menu that we cooked together for his family and he brought the food home to proudly feed his parents and siblings.

DANIEL’S SPECIAL DINNER
Menu’

Appetizer:
Cheese and Spinach Dip in Fillo Shells




Entrée:
Baked Daniel’s Polpette (Italian meatballs)
with
Pasta Primavera with Ham, Peas and Cream





Dessert:
Rainbow Chocolate Pralines




We discussed about flavors, ingredients, safety and all the golden rules in the kitchen, like how to not leave a mess for mommy to clean up after you are done (and yes, his mom paid me a little extra for this one ;-) ).



We talked about how to be open to try new foods and how sometimes things that you do not like by themselves turn out to taste better when combined with something else. In short, we worked a lot and cooked a lot! And at the end I can proudly say it was a success, at least based on the hug I received when class was over! From what I heard his family enjoyed the dinner a lot and made him feel like he was a real chef for a day. Mission accomplished!

Lamb For Dinner

Following my friend Shylah's advice I finally went to a local farmer's market yesterday morning.

Needless to say I could have bought half of what I saw and even more needless to say I could not afford doing that. So I settled for a jar of strawberry preserve that was probably the best I have ever tasted in my life and a piece or lamb that cost me an arm and a leg.

Lamb is pretty expensive over here and not that common either, from what I see. That was the reason why, when I saw this vendor selling frozen goat and lamb meat I told myself I had to have some. So I bought this lamb rack that turned out to not even be the cut of meat I expected it to be or at least it hadn't been prepared so to have the bones sticking out like a crown as I am used to see. But I did not dare touching it, so I cooked it the way it was.

Let me tell you that lamb is not exactly in my area of expertise, I probably only cooked it a couple times back when I was in Italy and so I was a little nervous. I did not want to waste that money making something that might not come out right.

I went to work that afternoon with that piece of lamb in mind. As soon as I came home I started working on it. I followed a recipe by Michele, a chef friend of mind that I probably mentioned before as he is the person who taught me a lot of what I know about food and cooking.


I was pretty pleased with the result. If nothing else, Nicholas, my 3-year-old son, ate without fussing. That equals to "pretty darn good dinner" on my scale!

You Asked For It: Dani's Pizza Is Back!

(pizza with eggplants, cherry tomatoes, smoked muenster cheese)


For all those who missed the previous ones, here is another chance to learn how to make delicious pizza at home.

Let me show you how I make my dough and how I get my thin crust.
Let me share with you a few ideas for different toppings, always made with fresh ingredients and herbs.

Thursday, June 11th, 6:00 pm
HOME-MADE PIZZA LIKE YOU NEVER HAD IT BEFORE!

Confirm your participation before june 9th!

SIMPLY Italian!

Who said that making a whole, tasty Italian dinner from scratch for your friends and family is a difficult task?

I definitely believe the opposite!

Come to my house on

Thursday May 21st at 6pm

Learn how to put one on the table (appetizer, pasta plate, entrée and side dish)
with very little effort and great enjoyment!



RSVP required by May 19th.

Calzone

I don't know why it took me so long to start making calzone for my family. It must be because I tend to do what I like myself and I have never been a calzone fan.

Vince, my husband, loves it instead, so I have started to make this more often. Does not take much to make people happy, sometimes :)







I made this one for him with his fav stuffing: tomato and cheese of course, to which I added some mushrooms, bell peppers and sausage.

Not bad, not bad at all...even if I made my usual flat pizza with cherry tomatoes and good mozzarella for myself instead! Old habits are hard to break ;-)

Bread and Cheese: Back to the Roots of "Good"

I like most foods. There is not much that is edible and that normally appears on our table that I cannot eat with enjoyment. Sometimes, though, food can send me to heaven and this was the case with this marvellous, delicius goat cheese that we found almost by chance at Central Market. Whoever the company which produces it is (it's called Cypress Grove Chevre and I must admit that I had never heard of them, I had to look them up), thank you for your work! Together with a slice of crusty bread and a glass of wine this cheese was a moment of serious pleasure to me.

The cheese is called Humboldt Fog® and it's a creamy and tangy cheese, to which I did not add any honey, fruit or anything. I am minimalist when it comes to flavors, semplicity is the golden rule, especially if I am the only one enjoying it.

All this has little to do with cooking, but it has lots to do with the pleasure of eating something good and my personal appreciation for hard work and attention for quality in the food market, so I thought I would share it nevertheless.