Polenta
I learned about polenta when I married Ditalini. It was what you ate when you were poor, or when you were tired of pasta and wanted something different. Sometime during the 1980s polenta became trendy and today you can find…
Ditalini’s Family Meat Sauce Recipe
This is the real stuff, a family meat sauce recipe from the Veneto region of Italy, handed down to my wife Ditalini from her family, the della Fagiolis. I’m sure the recipe changed as it adapted to life in the…
Ditalini’s Pasta alla Carbonara
We love pasta carbonara, but it’s so rich we have it only once or twice a year. Ditalini bases her recipe on one from Mario Batali. Notes: Pancetta gives the dish a crispier, saltier flavor. Bacon gives it a smoky, less…
Crouton’s Red Curry with Chicken & Eggplant
Last night I felt like making a curry with some chicken breast filets, so I did a quick sweep of the cupboard and fridge and pulled out these items: I had two different kinds of red curry paste, a Thai…
Crouton’s Smashing Potatoes
There are plenty of smashed potato recipes on the net. Here’s how we make them in Crouton’s kitchen:
Eating Our Way Through Independence Day: a Photoblog
Our son Baguette, daughter-in-law Truffle, and grandson Pesce are here for the week, along with our daughter Escargot and her boyfriend. We celebrated with a few favorite recipes, and I couldn’t resist taking photos. Here are the most appetizing ones…
What’s Cookin’?
Pasta alla Putanesca, that’s-a what!
Neufchâtel’s Meatloaf
It’s time to address comfort food, and what could be more comforting than meatloaf? My mother used to make a simple, basic meatloaf. We all loved it. Ditalini makes meatloaf too, but hers is fancier: she puts a roll of…
Ditalini’s Steamed Mussels (& Crouton’s Lobster Claw Boil)
Yesterday I posted a short entry about holiday gluttony, along with a photo of our Christmas Eve seafood feast. It occurred to me you might want to know how we prepared it. My recipe for shrimp boil is already in…
Year-End Wrapup: More Holiday Gluttony
Ditalini and I drove to Las Vegas with our daughter Escargot and doggies Mortadella & Ubracio to spend Christmas with our son Baguette, daughter in law Truffle, granddaughter Biscotto, and grandson Pesce. All the deMenthes together again! Of course the…