Under the Tuscan Gun

Back in our home… far away from Home!

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Los Angeles, January 13th 2010

Me, Deb and the Girls are speechless. This trip to Florence has been the hardest so far, in what is now almost a decade of back and forth; everything worked out fine at the end, but if you follow us on Twitter, I am sure you had a chance already to laugh with us about our Christmas Tuscan Experience. We landed in Florence on December 18th, at dusk… the snow started falling the moment we exited the airport. By the time we approached the last few turns right below Fiesole, our rental car had to be parked on the side of the street, and got snowed in for the next four days. Continue Reading…

Lasagne alla Bolognese

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Today’s recipe is a gem!
Lasagne alla Bolognese (with meat sauce) is one of the most popular dishes of Emila-Romagna, in Italy. Because of the proximity with Tuscany, the dish is now a very well represented item in restaurants’ menus throughout my region and many families have their own version of it: today we will introduce you to the traditional recipe… the one without Ricotta Cheese!!!
Don’t let the hours of work needed to cook this intimidate you, indeed this is a dish that can be prepared without braking a major sweat… no surprises here. Continue Reading…

The Italian Food Heritage Program

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Since the website, in its new version, has been launched, I have been receiving many emails and messages; some of them are congratulatory, some are just friendly notes of appreciation, a few requests have been made for future episodes and recipes to be featured on these pages…
I am extremely pleased with the outcome of the transition from my old blog to this more refined and updated platform, and so it seems are most of you visiting my virtual kitchen.
Something happened though, in the past few weeks, that made a light bulb go off in my head. Continue Reading…

Homemade Gnocchi

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“Gnocchi di Patate” (Homemade Potato Gnocchi) are yet another very humble treasure of Italian culinary tradition that can be eaten in its many different regional variations all across the “Bel Paese”. In Italy they are often sold at local bread bakeries, along with many different kind of fresh made pastas and ravioli, and also are very well represented on the mass market in their prepackaged, usually much drier version. Because of the simplicity of the ingredients used in the preparation of Gnocchi, many believe it to be a dish that was mostly prepared in the country by farmers; truth is that, because potatoes were introduced in the European diet only after the Americas were discovered, the original roots of this dish are not really easy to trace. Continue Reading…

Chicken Cacciatora with Pan Roasted Potatoes

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“Pollo alla Cacciatora” (Chicken Cacciatora) is a very common, almost ubiquitous dish throughout Italy. Like other recipes that are present in almost all regions of our country, you can come across many variations on the theme, almost like it happens with basic red or meat sauces… Every grandma has her own way of doing things, and this is abundantly reflected on the plate that will be served to the table.
The basic ingredients however do not change; by definition, Chicken Cacciatora, is cooked in a red sauce with Black Olives, Red Wine, Tomatoes and country herbs. It is a rich peasant dish that everyone in the family will enjoy, it holds cooked in the fridge for two or three days and makes great leftovers. Continue Reading…

Tango and Limoncello!

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It already has been a full two months of dancing, and I am so proud of my Wife!
I have to be honest, I always knew she had some groove within, even if the only times I ever saw her dancing in the past she was hustling with her gay friends… Now, it’s a whole different ball-game, as she has discovered pretty quickly after starting her training with Maks.
Days are melting for us in Lala, as Debi is always at the dance studio or on stage for her performances: we miss her a bit, but we could not be more proud and excited. Continue Reading…

Plum Jam

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It is almost the end of summer, and if by any chance you happen to have a fruit tree in your backyard or in your garden, this is probably the exact and perfect moment to collect all of its ripe fruit. The memories from my youth regarding the wild plum trees that grow in my parents’ garden are unforgettable; no, I will never forget how much my father busted my balls every damn August to have me pick up all the fruit that I could. I had to collect plums from the ground, I had to shake the tree, and collect more plums from the ground, I had to climb the tree without braking any branches and fill several plastic grocery bags with ripe fruit. I would get sticky, sweaty, bored and pissed! Continue Reading…

Dancing our way out of Hollywood!

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The word is finally out!
Early in the am on Monday, ABC’s Good Morning America announced the list of the competitors for the 9th season of Dancing With The Stars and yes, Debi is set to hit the dance-floor on September 21st 2009.
Debi’s partner is Maks, and they promptly started training some Salsa steps: I see a lot of healthy lunch boxes and foot massages in my immediate future (the new dancing shoes need to be broken in)! Continue Reading…