Mark and I fell in love with cannellini salad, and so we started paying attention to the versions we enjoyed the most. First came scribbles on napkins, followed by snapshots, and finally, we began experimenting with ratios at home.
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Mark and I discovered fettuccine with anchovies and garlic at Edo Squid in Richmond, Virginia, and immediately knew we had to figure out how to make it at home. A lot of people freak out over anchovies but give this a chance.
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Sugo con Costolette (koh-stoh-LEHT-tah) di manzo is Italian for Sauce with Beef Ribs, a popular Sunday comfort food in Italy. Many people refer to it as simply Sunday Gravy. We like our sugo served over pasta or Goat Cheese Gnocchi. If there happen to be any leftovers, we gently reheat the sauce in a covered saucepan on the stove. Comfort food, indeed!
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Authentic spaghetti carbonara is easy to make, but the ingredients and technique are pretty precise. Guanciale (GOO-on-cha-lay) and pancetta are close enough in nature to interchange because they are both cured in a smoke-free environment. Guanciale is salt-cured pork jowl or cheek, deriving its name from guancia, which is Italian for “cheek.” Its salt curing process traditionally includes curing the pork jowl or cheek with a variety of spices. Pancetta is pork belly cured with salt and pepper.
Continue reading “Spaghetti Carbonara“Authentic spaghetti carbonara is easy to make, but the ingredients and technique are pretty precise. Guanciale (GOO-on-cha-lay) and pancetta are close enough in nature to interchange because they are both cured in a smoke-free environment. Guanciale is salt-cured pork jowl or cheek, deriving its name from guancia, which is Italian for “cheek.” Its salt curing process traditionally includes curing the pork jowl or cheek with a variety of spices. Pancetta is pork belly cured with salt and pepper.
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What better way to start the day than with a frittata? Eggs get a lot of bad press… but for less than 80 calories, each, those little beauties deliver a satisfying hit of protein and do wonders for your cooking and your baking. There is a lot to that old advertisement “The incredible, edible egg!”
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During our trip to France in the fall of 2017, I developed a fascination with eggplant. It started with Ratatouille and spread to Eggplant Parmesan. Many recipes instruct you to salt and drain the eggplant, but I find this step completely unnecessary. I buy my globe eggplants fresh, as evidenced by their beautiful, dark, glossy skin, and then make a point of using them within a day or two. I guess my approach works because our friend Cindy declared this is the best Eggplant Parmesan she had ever tasted. Now that is a vote of confidence!
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