Summer Dinner

Sometimes it's just too hot to actually cook.

Voila! The perfect summer meal.
Buon appetito :)

Food Trucks

Food trucks. They're all the rage these days, no?

Lucky for me, there is a spot reserved speficially for food trucks right outside the building where I work. The other day I decided it was high time I check it out, and boy am I glad I did!



This colorful little vehicle de cuisine was blasting some great raggae/island music and has an impressive menu of sea food themed dishes. As I scanned my eyes down the menu, I suddenly saw:




It was like that scene in the movie where the record stops abruptly and everyone at the party whips their heads around to stare. Spiedies. Spiedies?!

For those who need a refresher, I'll direct you here.

The minute I got up to the window I asked the man where he was from. He grew up in Binghamton! The people in line behind me laughed out loud as I yelped out an emphatic, "ME TOO!" We chit-chatted a bit. He told me he was thinking of making just a spiedie truck. A whole TRUCK that serves ONLY spiedies. Helloooo?!


Delicious! A little taste of home right here in the heart of Boston. He souped them up a little bit by adding a cucumber and red onion relish on top of the spiedies. Honestly, as good as it was, I could have done without it. There's nothing better than the plain, old fashioned original.

I also went back the next day for the fish & chips (to die for!) and a lemonade. YUMMO.



Any great food trucks in your area that you'd recommend?

Torrone

Hi folks. I'd like to talk to you about torrone.

What is torrone (yes, you pronounce it toh-ROH-nay), you ask? Well, well, well, aren't you in for a treat!

Torrone is an Italian nougat candy that is traditionally eaten around Christmastime. I love the stuff, can't get enough. But my dad, ohhh my dad LOVES it. We've tried torrone from different bakeries all over the place. But the best, the very best torrone I've ever had, and I mean this with all my heart, comes from Boston's own Modern Pastry.

If you're thinking of the stale, orange flavored candies that come in the little colored boxes, then think again. Because this stuff is the real deal. Chewy, crunchy with the almonds, slightly sweet. And the dipped chocolate cappuccino or the dark chocolate espresso - oh. my. god.

Every year before I head home for Christmas, I have to go to the North End and stop at Modern to get torrone to bring home for my dad. This year he asked me to get 3 dozen. Now they come in bars the size of a king-size Snickers, maybe a little bigger. It ended up weighing almost 13 lbs. THIRTEEN POUNDS of candy. In other words, $187 worth. Of candy. I'll let you visualize that.

But boy oh boy, was it worth the hassle. Mmmmm, buonissimo!

The Cider Mill

Another one of my fall favorites: The Cider Mill.

I swear, I have dreams about this place.


Literally the best apple cider and donuts in the entire world.

YUM!

Spiedies

Food is hugely important to me, but you already knew that. My hometown is known for its food. I've been to restaurants all over the place, even in different countries, and some of the best food I've ever had still comes from the 607 area code.

One dish that we are particularly famous for is Spiedies. Pronounced like "speedees." I've been promising a Spiedie post for a while, so here it is. I would try to explain them to you, but you'll just say, "So...it's like a kebab?" The answer to that is NO. You just don't understand it until you've had it my friend.

I got mad when I realized my Dad wasn't grilling them on a skewer like normal. He can't comprehend why I have to take pictures of food for my newfangled blog.

Chicken and Pork Spiedies.
(Note: the word spiedies comes from the Italian word spiedini, the name for this dish)

Chicken Spiedie Salad with home grown lettuce, tomatoes, olives (from a can!) and Balsamic vinaigrette.

YUM!

And the Saints Go Marching In

WOOOOOOOOOOOO SAINTS!!!!

Alright, I cannot tell a lie... I could have cared less who won the Superbowl. I'm not the biggest football fan. I was born and raised in New York to die-hard Giants fans and now live Patriot territory. Since neither of these teams were in the big game, I really didn't have a preference for who won. All of my friends were rooting for the Saints, so I rooted for the Colts just to give them a hard time. It also boiled down to the battle of reality TV boyfriends -- Hank Baskett Jr. all the way!

I spent the evening at Melanie's house with her and her roommates and since we all felt the same way about the game, the focus of the night was more on the food than anything else. Her roommates made this adorable little schedule so we could plan the oven usage accordingly. Since we all feasted last night, I'll let you feast with your eyes now. The feast in all its glory.

Mike's 7 Layer Dip

Homemade Guac.

Pepperoni & Cheeze Calzone

Fresh Veggie Pizza

Buffalo Chicken Bites, Calzone,
and Fresh Veggie Pizza

Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake
(THANK YOU, Fina!)

Homemade Blueberry Pie
and Vanilla Ice Cream

I'll be going to the gym first thing tomorrow morning.

Bon Apetit!

My friends and family used to be stunned by the number of movies I saw at the theatre. At one point I was going to the movies at least once a week and I saw all the new releases the minute they came out. But over the last year a serious lack of time and funds have prevented me from staying on top of my movie watching. Which is why I just this morning saw Julie & Julia. FINALLY! With my love of cooking (and blogging!) I cannot believe it took me this long to see this movie. And I seriously loved it.


I thought Amy Adams as Julie Powell was charming. A little whiney, but charming nonetheless. Meryl Streep. What else can you say but her name? She was fantastic, as always. While I know who Julia Child is, she was a little before my time, and Streep brought her to life with such vivacity and spirit that I couldn't help but love her. She made Julia real and accessible to me. And how great was Stanley Tucci as her husband? I absolutely loved their relationship. They were beyond adorable, and from what I've read Julia and Paul Child's relationship was really that wonderful. I think the whole Julie/Julia Project was such a great idea. I would love to do something like that! But I have a feeling it would get a little expensive. Also - best line of the movie - "These damn things are hotter than a stiff cock!" Hilarious!

But let's talk about the real star of the film - THE FOOD. I will not lie, I found myself salivating more than once while watching Julie & Julia. There's a scene towards the beginning of the movie where Julie and her husband are talking about her starting her own blog, and during the entire scene they are chowing down on the most incredible looking homemade bruschetta on piece of thick, crusty, toasted bread. I was dying. Also - that chocolate cake with the almonds? Gorgeous.

I was definitely inspired to do some serious cooking. Well...not today...I have no groceries, haha. But I have a TON of recipes that I've been meaning to make and after watching Julie & Julia I can't wait to get in the kitchen and get cooking. Bon Apetit!

Sorrisotto!

Ciao, ciao! I made one of my favorite dinners last week and I thought I'd share it with you guys. During the winter months, I crave cheesy, starchy foods. All the time. Any kind of pasta, grilled cheese, pizza, mac & cheese, you name it! Which is why risotto is so perfect. Creamy, cheesy, and delicious. I started calling it sorisotto because in Italian sorriso means smile, and that's what I do when I'm eating it. How cute am I!

Besides being delicious, I love risotto because it's pretty inexpensive and it makes a LOT of food! That is spectacular news for a student on a budget such as myself. One cup of dry rice makes about 3 cups of cooked risotto, so there is always plenty left over. I like to keep the flavors in the actual risotto pretty simple just for that reason. That way when I have my leftover risotto over the next few days, I can make a fresh side dish to go with it and I don't have to be eating the exact same thing three days in a row.

First I melt about a table spoon of butter in a pot, an add in some finely chopped onion and one clove of garlic. Sauté on medium heat and when the onions start to look translucent add in one cup of risotto. I typically use Arborio rice to make risotto, but Carnaroli and Vialone rice are popular as well. Really any short grained rice will do. Toast the rice for about 5 minutes - you will know it's ready when it's slightly translucent. At this point add in one cup of dry white wine. Stir the risotto constantly until all of the liquid is absorbed. Once it is, add in a cup of hot water. For extra flavor you can add hot chicken or vegetable stock, but if you don't have any on hand (like moi) then hot water is just fine. Once that liquid is absorbed, add another cup of hot water and another and another until the ricsotto is done.

It may sound difficult to gage when the risotto is finished, but it's really not. After 3 cups of hot water have been absorbed, I taste the risotto to see how much more it has to cook. Risottoe, like pasta should be a bit al dente, but if it's still very hard then it needs more water. Easy as that! Once the risotto is finished I add pepper and lots and lots of grated Parmesan cheese. The cheese has a lot of salt in it, so make sure you taste your risotto before you add any additional salt. I also add some dried, crushed basil to mine for a little extra flavor.

Now! Risotto does need to be stirred almost constantly, but almost is the key word. You can easily make something to go with your risotto while it's cooking. I cut up some chicken and sautéd it in a pan with quartered artichoke hearts, a little olive oil, white wine, salt, pepper, and fresh squeezed lemon juice. I'll tell you what - my kitchen smelled awesome, my roommates were drooling, and this dinner totally hit the spot.

Risotto and chicken and artchoke hearts with white wine & lemon sauce

Buon Apetito!

Quick Weeknight Dinner

I am in desperate need of groceries. I haven't gone shopping since before Christmas and my cupboards are looking pretty bleak. Luckily I keep a few key ingredients on hand and I was able to make a great little dinner yesterday. My go-to dinner when I don't feel like cooking or have nothing else to make is, like any good Italian girl, PASTA. Che buono! So last night I whipped up a quick little bolognese.

I don't measure anything while I cook unless I'm following a specific recipe, so most nights I'm in the kitchen just throwing in a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

To start off, I brown some ground beef in a pan. While that is cooking, I chop up some garlic, onion, carrot (and usually celery, but I didn't have any last night). I cut the clove of garlic into 3 or 4 big chunks because I love the flavor of garlic but I don't like to actually eat it, so this makes it easier for me to pull it out when I'm finished cooking.

When the meat is almost done cooking, I add in the veggies. At this point I also add in salt and pepper, and I let that cook until the veggies are tender and the meat has a nice brown crust. Then I pour in red wine and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

I poured a little vino for myself too!

Once the wine has reduced, I add tomato sauce and some dried basil that I grew over the summer. At this point I put the water on for the pasta and turn the heat on the sauce down to a low simmer. By the time the pasta is finished cooking, the sauce has simmered long enough that all of the flavors have combined. And taaadaaa! You've got yourself a delicious little dinner.

Mangia!