(photo: don’t be fooled by the Carlo Rossi gallon jugs, the contents are 100 percent homemade wine) As many Italian Americans can attest to making homemade wine is one of the culturally defining moments of our group.  Making and bottling homemade wine is practiced by thousands of immigrants and 1st/2nd/3rd generation Italian Americans in the United States.  The process […]

(photo: Fish Sauce dish with squid, scallops, and clams awaiting pasta) Mention pasta to me and my mind drifts to fresh parsley, sliced garlic, dried red chillies, and high quality extra virgin olive oil.  In my view, the four aforementioned ingredients make up the world’s best pasta sauce or condiment.  Sure, one can argue that a well executed tomato sauce (with or […]

One of our more devout readers goes by the moniker of Dr. K., a doctor by training and food lover by way of passion! Dr. K has contributed many guest posts here and his latest is a favorite in the stuffed pasta universe: Whole Wheat Ravioli with Sweet Potato!  Dr. K.’s version of homemade ravioli include whole wheat flour and a […]

The “warm weather” hasn’t exactly arrived here in New Jersey but there are signs of spring all around. Our flowering pear trees have budded and our ancient Forsythias have yellowed and now brighten our otherwise drab landscape.  And our purple bearded Iris have come up along our narrow driveway along with a host of tullips, lillies, and crocus shots.  So, there are signs […]

(photo: farmed salmon with arugula salad) Like many folks, one of my favorite fish on the planet is salmon.  The wild variety is divine however I do enjoy the high quality, and sustainable, farmed type which has a fattier texture and composition.    I prepare salmon with our breadcrumb topping (see recipe here), olive oil, black pepper, and Kosher salt.  Thereafter, I use our trusty […]

(photo: various food mills; ours is the top left above) How many of you own a food mill?  Uh-oh, I only see a few hands and I’m getting some quizzical looks!   OK, let’s jump out of the role play and get down to why I think everyone should own a food mill; after all, like a chef’s knife and a cutting board, the […]

(photo: an Italian tuna sandwich with tomato salad prepared with Pace da Poggio Etrusco extra virgin olive oil) As many of you know we keep plenty of high quality tuna in olive oil in our Italian pantryat all times!  And we usually prepare our tuna in two ways: 1. as a stand alone salad to be consumed with olives, cheese, […]

I always wanted to conduct research on the people of Calabria and get to the bottom of what makes people living in places like France, Spain, Greece, and Italy so healthy with long, healthy, lives.  There’s lots of anecdotal evidence pointing to stress level, diet, universal pensions, environment and climate, etc. and being the food obsessed we like to think diet […]

  (photo: grilled Italian sausage in a spicy tomato sauce) Although my favorite way to prepare sausage is grilled on an outdoor barbecue with wood briquettes, simmering already grilled sausage in a spicy tomato sauce is a close second! The recipe is more than easy, it’s almost a non recipe; that is to say, something you can intuit very easily.  Here’s the […]

  (photo: La Castellina extra virgin olive oil used to make handmade ravioli with tomato sauce) Every once in a while a particular recipe I’ve made hundreds of times tastes like something completely different.  For example, my wife Erin (who secretly does much of the cooking behind Scordo.com!) made a batch of tomato sauce and I quickly proclaimed it “the best sauce […]