Italian Corn Bread When my wife (then girlfriend) visited my parent’s home for her first Italian themed Thanksgiving she was bewildered by the selection of non traditional Thanksgiving day foods such as pasta, salumi, olives, various vegetables, nuts, fruits, cheeses, and pastries (I offered no explanation, but suggested she eat as much as possible so as to not offend the […]

Friselle bread, at times referred to as freselle, frisedde, fresedde, frise, are made from durum wheat.  Friselle are baked twice and usually have a rough side and smooth side.  Friselle are found throughout all of Italy but especially popular in southern Italy (Apulia, Calabria, Campania, etc.).  Friselle have a very long shelf life and were especially popular during difficult, economic, […]

The tomato mozzarella sandwich is so simple it hardly needs explaining, but it certainly should be prepared more often by home cooks (hence the post!).   A good tomato mozzarella sandwich, like most Italian dishes and recipes, is dependent on great ingredients; therefore high quality tomatoes, whole or Buffalo milk mozzarella cheese, extra virgin olive oil, and bread are vital.  For my […]

I categorize pizza in the United States into two tidy compartments; namely: Thin style “NY Pizzeria” pizza comprised of tomato sauce and some variation of mozzarella, made from water buffalo milk or the cow milk variant) and  “Pizza Calabrese” which includes a minimal amount of cheese (that is to say, usually grated cheese post baking), a slightly thicker crust, possibly a bit […]

Lazy, weekend, lunches are one of the small pleasure in life and I define a lazy lunch as a simple plate of food (with little to no manipulation), fresh, crunchy, bread, and a bottle of exquisite wine (psychologically, get an exquisite bottle of wine for under $20, there are fabulous wine deals out there if you stay away from California, […]

Many personal finance gurus will tell you to head to your local food market with only certain items in mind and shop only by price.  Moreover, the penny pinching crowd would argue that the purpose of buying, and in turn consuming, food is to be as efficient and cost effective as possible.   As you probably guessed, I don’t subscribe to buying […]

Ah, the humble sandwich or panino; two pieces of bread with some filling in between can be as vile as bologna on wonder bread or as elegant as prosciutto di Parma with extra virgin olive on slices of pane Pugliese.  My leanings, as you probably guessed, are toward the elegant side of the sandwich world.  I like pairing salty and […]

One of the reasons I love the summer season is the availability of locally grown tomatoes and hence the amount of times I can utilize our tomato salad recipe for lunch or dinner..  Tomatoes are incredibly versatile and, like extra virgin olive oil, are a staple of eating well.  My favorite Summer-time use for tomatoes is the simple and elegant tomato […]